Naruto: The Sun God
by thesentence
Summary: AU. When his ship arrives on the ninja world, baby Kal-El is taken in. As the boy grows older, the ones in charge fear his power. However, that same power will be needed to save the ninja world. Superman crossover. One chapter left!
1. Chapter 1

Naruto: The Sun God

**Chapter 1: From The Stars**

The ship flies through the cold of empty space, leaving a wormhole. It speaks to its sleeping passenger as a planet can be seen in the distance. "Approaching destination. The planet has a yellow star, just as Jor-El instructed. The inhabitants are similar to Kryptonian species, so Kal-El will be able to blend in." The ship enters the atmosphere of the planet, making its way to a final destination.

Minato and Kushina step outside the house, looking at the many stars in the sky. Minato then spots a shooting star before putting his arm around his wife. "Look, Kushina! Make a wish!" Kushina then squints a little, noticing something out of the ordinary. "It's getting bigger." Minato looks at her, confused. "What?" "The shooting star...", just then, a ship flies down, coming in fast as Minato and Kushina prepare to take cover. The ship comes to a halt as the couple can hear the thrusters in front of them. They open their eyes as they notice a small blue ship with a red S logo hovering in front of them. Kushina then spots the infant inside. The ship opens its cockpit and continues to hover. Kushina hops on top of the ship and kneels down to look at the baby.

"Kushina, what are you doing," asked Minato.

"I think it wants us to take the baby." Kushina picks up the baby, seeing black hair. "Ah, he's so cute." Kushina leaps back to her husband's side, who is still curious about the mysterious ship. "Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki," said an electronic voice coming from the ship. "The two of you have been picked to watch over Kal-El. Now hold still as I scan your biology." The ship uses a scanning blue light on Minato and then on Kushina. "Biology scan complete," said the ship, "and now for DNA replication." A bright light comes from the baby, blinding the couple for a few seconds. Kushina and Minato are surprised to see the new face of the infant. His black hair has been replaced by spiky blonde hair, similar to Minato's, but the boy opens his eyes, showing their blue hue.

"He has your hair," said Kushina laughing.

"But he has your face," said Minato. The ship lifts itself higher a bit. "I will leave Kal-El in your care. Take good care of him, for in time he will be a blessing to your world." The ship takes off, leaving their line of sight, but their eyes continue to follow.

_15 years later..._

_Minato had died during his battle with the Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi. As Kushina was left alone to raise their son, she began to realize what the ship meant as she discovered the boy's abilities. Kushina had named him Naruto after a character from one of Jiraiya's stories. As time passed, Naruto got bigger and his abilities got stranger. In time, Kushina and the village elders learned how his abilities worked, creating an alternate living quarters for Naruto._

Tsunade walks down a long hallway in an underground facility, leading Kakashi to a large chamber with two metallic, heavily armored slide doors. Tsunade turns around with a stern look on her face as she speaks to Kakashi. "Are you sure about this, Kakashi?" The Copy Ninja maintains his usual lazy look. "We all know that ninja are not allowed to do S ranked missions solo, and even though Sakura has been promoted to chunin, she's more of a nurse than a fighter." Tsunade sighs. "Okay, but remember the protocol. Naruto needs to be back here before..." Kakashi waves his hand reassuringly with his eye closed. He seems to be forming a smile under his mask. "Don't worry, lady Hokage; he'll be back before you know it."

Kakashi walks into the large chamber. Once inside, he sees a swarm of red sun lamps on the walls and ceiling with circular shapes to them. To his left on the far side, he sees a bed and in the center, he sees dumbbells. Kakashi stops, looking down at Naruto who is doing sit-ups with his jacket and sandals off. Kakashi simply stares down at Naruto, looking a little serious. "Hurry up, Naruto. We have a mission." Naruto speaks as he is doing his sit-ups. "S rank again? Why are they the only missions I do?" Kakashi responds, a little uninterested. "Because they are the only ones you CAN do, remember?" Naruto stops and unfolds his legs as he sits up. "And that is what keeps bothering me, Kakashi sensei! I can't go to ninja school, I can't take the chunin exam, but somehow I'm qualified for S ranked missions? Isn't that backwards?!"

"I suppose, but what can we do, Naruto? When you started your chakra training, you seemed to learn things at frightening speeds, and when you took your first lessons at ninja school, you aced everything! Do you remember the IQ test that we gave you? It was off the charts, and that was without your solar power! Calling you gifted would be a vast understatement!" Naruto seems to be a little upset. "So then why can't I take the chunin exam?!" "Because you're overqualified, Naruto," shouts Kakashi now calming down a bit. "You need to understand that not everyone will be excited about your gifts. If someone like you competed for chunin, you would make everyone else look bad, and not just the students. The teachers, the jonin, even the Hokage. Some of the ninja would give up altogether because they would say "_how can we beat him"_ before handing over their headbands?"

Naruto now looks depressed as he ponders on Kakashi's words. "Then why are you asking for my help, sensei? Won't I just be a burden?" Kakashi makes an angry sigh. "That's not what I said! The reason why you go on these missions with me is because we need you to control your powers, and because they are too dangerous for a normal ninja to complete alone." "But I'm not normal, right?" Kakashi is somewhat baffled by the statement, not knowing how to respond. "The people in the village are afraid of me, I get that. What I don't get is how these missions will change that." Kakashi becomes more sympathetic now. "That's the whole point, Naruto; if you do these missions, especially the tougher ones, it might change their minds. So, are you ready?"

* * *

Naruto and Kakashi walk through the long underground corridor, approaching a flight of stairs. They walk up the stairs until reaching a set of wooden doors that lead outside. "So who is our client," asked Naruto with Kakashi responding, "Gaara." Naruto seems a bit surprised. "Gaara? What's he been up to?" Kakashi looks uninterested. "He's the Kazekage." "How did he pull that off," asked Naruto. "Well, he is the strongest ninja in his village, but then you knew that," said Kakashi. Kakashi looks at Naruto now. "Still feeling mortal?" Naruto nods. Kakashi takes another look at Naruto, curious about why he is not wearing his jacket and is walking barefoot. "Are you really going out like that," asked Kakashi. Naruto shrugs. "If I'm going out, then I need to be at my best, right? I can absorb more sunlight this way." Kakashi opens the doors and the sun shines through the tunnel. The two ninja step outside as Naruto stares at his right palm, which he cut yesterday. He can see the scar tissue on the palm, reminding him of his mortality while underground in his chamber. A few seconds later, a golden glow comes from his palm. The scar is covered by the glow as it fades from sight until Naruto's hand is completely healed. Naruto takes out a dagger and stabs his hand, only for the dagger to shatter on impact.

"Looks like you're in working order," said Kakashi. "I never asked you this before and I don't know why, so I'll ask now. What is it like when you're like this?" Naruto lowers his hand and looks at Kakashi. "I feel energized. I feel like I can do anything. I don't eat, I don't sleep and I don't feel the need to." Naruto looks up at the sun. "When I'm down in the chamber, it's the only time I feel normal, that I feel... human." Kakashi walks over and pats his shoulder, speaking to him as he sympathizes, knowing that this hasn't been easy on either of them. "Come on. We have to get going."

Naruto and Kakashi now stand outside near the entrance to the Sand Village, right inside the gate. Standing before them is a teenager with short, spiky, tomato red hair and blue eyes with no pupils. He wears an outfit with the same color as his hair with a giant gourd on his back and navy blue sandals on his feet. He folds his arms as he speaks to the two Leaf Ninja. "Kazekage," said Naruto bowing. Gaara speaks in a gravel-like voice. "Please, Naruto, no formalities. You know me." Kakashi answers in an analytical tone. "So why are we here, Gaara? A ninja village hiring another ninja village is unusual." "That is because of the opponent that you will face, and the Leaf Ninja have the necessary talents for this mission." Naruto seems confused. "How so?" "A neighboring village of ours has been silently invaded. Though there are no reports of murders, there are reports of unregistered residents, new villagers popping up from out of nowhere." Kakashi becomes curious. "So what does that mean, exactly?" "That is why I called the two of you here. Neji and Hinata have already gone ahead to the village and they sent me a report." Gaara now squints his eyes with worry. "Naruto, I wanted you for this mission, because your targets... are the Kryptonians." Naruto and Kakashi are shocked by this revelation.

"Neji told me that a few of the villagers have the same extremely high levels of solar energy in their bodies, just like yours, Naruto. You are the only one who can fight them."

* * *

Neji and Hinata stand on a nearby hill, observing the town below. They both have their Byakugans active, seeing the inner workings of the villagers' bodies. Naruto and Kakashi approach them from behind before standing right beside them. "We're glad you could make it. We've watched the villagers from afar so that we didn't arouse suspicion," said Neji. Neji looks to his left from the corner of his eyes, seeing Naruto. "Hinata and I were waiting until you got here." "How many of them did you see, Neji," asked Naruto. Neji looks over the hill again. "Ironically, there are four of them." Hinata now speaks up in a soft voice. "They haven't done anything harmful yet, but we know they're working for Zod, so we've kept a close watch on them." Kakashi then grabs his headband. "Then I guess I'll have to go all out, then." Kakashi pulls up his headband, uncovering his left eye to reveal a red-eye with a pupil that looks like a three-bladed shuriken. Naruto looks over at Kakashi. "Kakashi sensei...," Kakashi cuts Naruto off, "Naruto, I'm not your teacher anymore." "Kakashi, you know that the Mangekyo Sharingan won't work on them. Zod's soldiers are too powerful for that and they are not ninja." Kakashi squints a little. "Do you have any better ideas, Naruto?" Naruto nods. "I do. Everyone, gather around me." Neji, Hinata and Kakashi form a horseshoe around Naruto. Naruto has a calm expression on his face. "During my time in the red sun chamber, I've been working on a technique to fight the Kryptonians. I knew that sooner or later, you guys will have to fight them without me, so I developed this." Naruto smacks his knuckles together, causing his fists to be covered in large balls of red light. Hinata looks on with curiosity.

"Naruto, what is that," asked Hinata. Naruto holds his fists up with his arms folded on the sides. "This is a jutsu that I've been working on. I call it the Solar Fist. You can change its color, but for now we'll focus on red. Kakashi, you have probably copied this already since your Sharingan is out. Simply focus your chakra into your arms and let it out in your hands. Just focus on solar energy. The bigger the light, the more effective it is." Neji seems to be a bit surprised by something and Naruto notices. "Something wrong, Neji?" "Yes, I just noticed something. Naruto, I can feel your chakra now." Naruto looks at his hands. "Oh yeah, I guess the red sunlight covering my hands is knocking out my Kryptonian powers." The large balls of sunlight now turn yellow on Naruto's hands. "Your chakra has disappeared again," said Neji. Kakashi now looks at the group with a stern look in his eyes.

"Alright, everyone. Naruto has given us the means to fight Zod's soldiers, so let's not blow this. Neji, Hinata, you two go west. Naruto and I will take the two soldiers on the east side." Kakashi, Neji and Hinata flash step from the hill. Naruto takes to the air, flying east.

**Next Chapter: Three years ago, Naruto met Sakura and Sasuke for the first time. How different was this first encounter in this alternate reality?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Sakura and Sasuke**

_Three years ago..._

Naruto sits at Ichiraku Ramen with Iruka. Naruto slurps his ramen happily as Iruka laughs. Naruto has emptied his bowl of ramen as he chuckles at Iruka. "This place always seems to cheer me up." "I can tell. A bowl of ramen always seems to get someone's spirit up." Naruto looks into his empty bowl for a few seconds before standing up from the stool. Iruka joins him as the two pay for their food before leaving. "So, Iruka sensei, any news on who the top student is at the academy?" Iruka drops his smile. "That's what I've been meaning to talk to you about. There is this boy from the Uchiha Clan. His name is Sasuke and his scores are the highest at the academy. His learning speed and jutsu are phenomenal. Another promising student is Sakura Haruno. She is a sensor type ninja and wants to become a nurse." Naruto pauses for a moment. "Iruka sensei, is there a reason why you are mentioning these two particular students to me?" Iruka smiles briefly. "You can read me like a book, Naruto. The reason why I mentioned these two is because they are the best choice to balance your talents."

Naruto now becomes suspicious of Iruka's words. "Iruka sensei... what are you implying?" Iruka now becomes calm. "Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are your new teammates." Iruka reaches into his pocket and takes out a headband, holding it in Naruto's face with his palm facing up. Naruto feels a sense of surprise and disbelief. "But I was pulled from the academy." Iruka keeps his cool. "And we both know why, don't we?" Naruto widens his eyes, but then averts his gaze. "You earned this, Naruto. You're finally a ninja." Naruto takes the headband and puts it on. He smoothly rubs his thumb across the silver of the Land of Fire logo. "The Third Hokage, Sarutobi, ordered me to give this to you. Up to this point, you earned it years ago before you were banned, but the Third kept track of your training at home with your mom." Naruto hugs Iruka happily. "Oh thank you, Iruka sensei, thank you!" Iruka laughs. "Okay, okay. Now my advice to you is to get to know your new teammates before the initiation test. That knowledge may come in handy." Naruto looks up and nods. "I'll do my best."

* * *

Naruto strolls down a street somewhere in the village, reading from an address card that Iruka gave to him. Naruto pauses for a moment when he sees a girl with long, pink hair approach him. She wears a dark pink shirt and dark blue shorts with dark blue sandals. Her eyes are pale green and she has a large forehead. Naruto walks closer to the girl and extends his hand. "Hi, you must be Sakura. I was told that we would be on a team together." Sakura shakes his hand, making a nervous smile. "Oh, I didn't expect to run into you, Naruto." Naruto lowers his hand. "It's funny that you are walking away from Sasuke's house, Sakura. I was just headed there to meet him. Have you talked to him yet?" Suddenly, Inner Sakura begins shouting. "Who does this brat think he is?! He thinks he can just talk to Sasuke? He's a nobody!" Naruto becomes concerned. "Are you okay? You seem nervous about something." Sakura laughs nervously. "Oh, I'm fine; I just need to do some girl stuff." Naruto makes a calm but confused expression. "Okay... well, I need to get to Sasuke's. See you." As Naruto continues on toward Sasuke's, he hears Sakura's voice as she talks to herself.

"That brat will never fit in with us. Heh, he probably thinks he can be as good as Sasuke. He's definitely too weak to be a ninja; I can't even feel his chakra." Sakura makes a cocky smile as she says this when someone grabs her shoulder. "I almost forgot to ask you. Did you know if Sasuke is living with anyone? I heard that his house is empty." Sakura turns around to face Naruto and looks slightly angry. "If you have to know, Sasuke lives alone. He's been living alone since his clan got slaughtered." Naruto continues to look calm. "I see. Thanks, Sakura and by the way..." Naruto now looks serious. "This _brat_ asked you a simple question; you don't have to be rude." Naruto turns around to walk back toward Sasuke's house. "Reject," said Sakura. Naruto looks back at her, seeing a look of pure spite on her face. Sakura then runs away, as if digusted by him. Naruto only sighs. "Let it go, Naruto."

Naruto walks along the sill of the second level of a boarded house. The boards are flip panels and the house is blue. Ino looks out the window, seeing Naruto sneaking into Sasuke's house. Naruto enters through the flip board covering the window. Ino seems a little upset. "Naruto? What is that reject doing at Sasuke's house? Is he trying to challenge my boy Sasuke?"

Naruto finds himself in a generally empty house. He looks over at the far corner, seeing a young man with black hair in bangs and a ponytail. He wears a dark blue shirt with white, baggy shorts and dark blue sandals. The young man has his back facing Naruto. Naruto smiles as he begins to walk over to the young man. "Hi, Sasuke. I'm...," Sasuke cuts him off. "I know who you are. Why are you here, Naruto?" Naruto speaks up with a positive attitude. "I was wondering if we could talk." Sasuke turns around to face Naruto, revealing dark eyes. Sasuke looks dead serious. "And why would I talk to a reject like you? The only reason you are in our squad is because the Third Hokage felt sorry for you. By all accounts, you shouldn't even be wearing that headband." Naruto makes a fist and looks down. His face is riddled with concern and uncertainty. "Sasuke, do you have a secret, one so terrible that if anyone found out, they would never see you the same way again? I have a secret like that." Sasuke speaks angrily. "Why should I care about your problems?" Naruto looks at Sasuke seriously now. "Are you and Sakura related or something?" "What is that supposed to mean?" "You both need an attitude adjustment. We've known each other for a few minutes and you have both been less than friendly. If we're going to be a team, then we need to start acting like one." Naruto now folds his arms. "So let's try this again. Hi, my name is Naruto, and your name is..." Sasuke squints angrily. "Leaving." Sasuke turns around when Naruto touches his shoulder with incredible speed. Sasuke looks at Naruto's hand in disbelief. "How did he catch me so fast? He was on the other side of the room," thought Sasuke.

Naruto speaks up with calm anger. "Would you just listen to me?!" Sasuke spins around and throws a punch, which Naruto easily catches. Sasuke is in shock yet again. Sasuke gets angry again and throws two crosses and a roundhouse kick, but Naruto blocks them all. Sasuke jumps back, confused. "Was that really necessary, Sasuke?" Sasuke squints a little. "So, you can fight." "Is that really important now?" Sasuke becomes angry again. "Yes, Naruto, it is! You're the one who said we're a team!" Sasuke now charges at Naruto. "Now I want to know why I should trust a reject like you," shouts Sasuke.

Ino looks at Sasuke's house from the balcony of her family's flower shop. Ino is then blown back by a massive shockwave from Sasuke's house, destroying the wooden panels covering the windows. Ino puts her arms back down as she sees Sasuke emerge from the house. Ino then becomes excited. "Yeah, I knew Sasuke would beat that loser, Naruto." However, inside the house, the real Sasuke lies down on his stomach with the wall behind him having massive damage. "He... hit me with his palm. He didn't even use his full strength."

Naruto maintains his disguise as Sasuke as he finds Sakura sitting on a bench. "From what she said before, she seemed infatuated with Sasuke, but then why wouldn't she be? He is the top student and an attractive male. Now for some research," thought Naruto. Naruto sits down by Sakura, who becomes somewhat excited. "Sasuke, you're here!" "Hi, Sakura. I understand that you met Naruto earlier. What do you think about him?" Sakura holds up her right hand with her palm facing up and her elbow down. She closes her eyes as she speaks in a snobbish voice. "He's some reject from the academy that the Third Hokage felt sorry for. He's a whiny, snot nosed kid who probably can't do anything without his mom around." Naruto stands up from the bench and places his hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura, it sounds to me that you're making a lot of assumptions about someone who you barely know." Naruto drops his hand. "I want you to wait right here. I'll be back." Sakura makes a look of goofy pleasure. "Yes, Sasuke."

* * *

Sasuke struggles to stand up as he grabs his left arm in pain. Naruto then re-enters his house and drops his disguise. Naruto places his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and uses his chakra to heal him in seconds. Sasuke then releases his arm. "I told Sakura that you were going to talk to her. At least try to be nice to her." Sasuke simply stares at Naruto. "Who are you really, Naruto? What was that power you used?" Naruto maintains his serious face. "Sasuke, I need you to focus. I've spoken to her twice now, and I used your face to confirm my own suspicions of her. Now it's your turn."

Sakura paces around as she anxiously awaits Sasuke's return. Sakura then sees Sasuke approach her and she becomes excited. "Sasuke, you're here." Sasuke has a blank expression on his face as he looks at Sakura. "I'm glad you're back, Sasuke. Naruto just left a bad taste in my mouth. He's a selfish little reject who doesn't belong on our team." Sasuke now speaks up. "Clearly, you don't know what the word selfish means, Sakura." Sakura seems to be caught off guard. "For years, I had to live alone with no family to support me and none of the villagers offered to take me in, but you, Sakura? You have a family, and Naruto has his mom. Another thing; you called Naruto selfish, but have you even paid attention to him? He's some boy scout who thinks he can save everybody. That's the opposite of selfish." Sasuke is angry now. Sakura becomes worried. "Sasuke, you're not actually siding with him, are you?" "No, I'm not, but somehow I find him more tolerable now. You... you're just annoying." Sakura is filled with fear and then remorse.

Sasuke is walking back toward his house, passing up Naruto. Sasuke then speaks briefly to Naruto. "You're up." Naruto walks back to the bench where Sakura is, seeing her with her head down. Sakura now thinks to herself, Sasuke's words ringing in her ears. "Sakura," said Naruto. Sakura speaks in a voice full of guilt. "Maybe Sasuke is right. Maybe I should give you a chance." Naruto makes a calm expression as he closes his eyes briefly while running his fingers through his spiky, blonde hair. "Sakura, you have to do it because you want to, not because of Sasuke or anyone else. My mom always told me that no one can choose your path for you, that you have to choose who you want to be." Sakura chuckles. "Sasuke was right. You are a boy scout." Naruto smiles. "Sorry, Sakura. No merit badges for me."

* * *

Naruto enters his house and closes the door behind him. He sees Kushina at the stove, her long, tomato red hair extending to her lower back. She wears a green apron on top of a white cargo jacket, black shorts and black sandals. "Hey mom, I'm home." Kushina turns around as she removes her apron. "Hi, Naruto." Kushina walks over and kisses him on the cheek. "How was your day? Did you meet your new teammates?" Naruto sits on the bed and Kushina joins him. She can tell that her son has something on his mind and he seems a bit worried. "Naruto, what is it?" "I met Sakura and Sasuke today. I had only known them for a few minutes and they both seemed... off." "What do you mean by off, Naruto?"

"Sakura is self-centered and vain, and Sasuke is an antisocial, egotistical jerk. I think I finally know what Iruka sensei meant. He didn't want me to balance their physical talents, he wanted me to balance their personalities." Kushina begins to rub his arm as she rests her head on his shoulder. "Don't think too hard about it, Naruto. If anyone can change them for the better, it's you. You are a good boy; you always find the good in people, just like I taught you." Naruto looks at Kushina briefly. "I will try my best, mom. Only time will tell if the three of us can truly be a team, that is..." Naruto slightly squints his eyes. "If we don't kill each other first."

**Next Chapter: Three years ago, Naruto met his squad leader, Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke only cares about winning, Sakura only cares about Sasuke, and Naruto cares too much.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Kakashi**

_Three Years Ago...  
_

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke sit outside, waiting impatiently. Sakura looks at her watch, becoming irritable. "Where is he? He should have been here by now," said an annoyed Sakura. Naruto stands with his arms folded and his eyes closed. Sasuke seems to be growling under his breath. "Getting angry again, Sasuke," asked Naruto. "What are we doing, waiting here for so long? How can we join Kakashi's squad if Kakashi isn't here," asked an angry Sasuke. Naruto opens his eyes and stares at Sasuke. "It's Kakashi sensei, not Kakashi. Show a little more respect, Sasuke." "I'll show more respect when he gets here, Naruto." Sakura looks back toward the village. "If only we knew where he was. We could drag him here with a rope if we have to." Naruto unfolds his arms and places his hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Wait here. I'll go and find Kakashi sensei." Sakura nods her head. "Thanks, Naruto."

Kakashi sits on his balcony, his feet popped up on the rail as he reads his manga. His wavy, silver hair blows a little in the wind as his headband covers his left eye. He flips the page on his manga as a voice rings out to him. "Hello," asked Naruto. Kakashi lowers his manga, seeing a blonde-haired kid in a bright orange jumpsuit with his arms folded, standing on the rail. "Oh, hello," said Kakashi. "Isn't there somewhere you should be right now," asked Naruto. "Oh, yeah. Give me a minute."

Sasuke and Sakura continue to wait, anxiously awaiting their chance of becoming ninja, but they can't do it without their squad leader. Sakura then sees Naruto walking back with a taller, silver-haired ninja with a mask covering his mouth and nose. Sakura now feels somewhat relieved. "There you are! Where have you been, sensei? We were out here waiting to start the initiation!" Kakashi scratches his cheek with a relaxed look on his face. "Yeah, sorry about that. I lost track of time. So, let's get started." Naruto stands beside Sakura, who now sits in between Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi sits down on a chair that he brought. "Alright students, my name is Kakashi Hatake and I will be your squad leader from here on, that is if you pass the initiation. So, why don't we introduce ourselves. Naruto, you first." Naruto nods his head and then smiles. "Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm twelve years old and I like eating ramen with Iruka sensei." Kakashi sounds curious. "And what is your goal in life, Naruto?" "To become Hokage and bring peace to the ninja world." Kakashi now looks at Sakura. "Your turn."

"My name is Sakura Haruno. My idol is Tsunade the Sage and my goal in life is to be a great medical ninja like her." Kakashi now turns his eye to Sasuke. "Well, it seems that you are next." Sasuke folds his hands as he holds them to his face. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. All I care about is finding the man who killed my family." Kakashi keeps a relaxed look. "I see." Naruto now becomes curious as well. "Do you have any leads, Sasuke?" Sasuke just sits there silently. "If you want, I could help." Kakashi stands up and approaches the three. "Okay, listen up. We are going into the woods right outside the village; that is where the training ground is. Once there, I will give you your objective for the initiation test."

* * *

Kakashi and the squad stand in an open area right in front of a forest. Kakashi now holds up an ornament with two round bells dangling from it. "Alright, this is your objective for the initiation test. The three of you will each try to grab one of these bells. Once you grab a bell, you can't get another one. I will meet each one of you in the forest." Kakashi flash steps into the forest. Sasuke and Sakura seem determined, but Naruto seems to be observing. Naruto then turns his attention to his teammates. "Okay, guys. I think we need to work together. Things will go a lot smoother if we do." Sasuke growls. "I'm not working with a reject. Work with Sakura if you want, but that bell is mine!" Sasuke dashes into the forest, leaving Naruto to look at Sakura for approval. "Sakura, we have to catch him! He's no match for Kakashi sensei on his own!" Sakura frantically looks back at Naruto and the forest. She stops after a few more looks before making a statement. "I'm sorry." Sakura dashes into the forest, leaving Naruto by himself. Naruto sighs in disappointment before taking off himself.

Sasuke lands in a tree, seeing Kakashi on the ground below, reading his manga. Sasuke waits for Kakashi to pass up the tree, hoping to sneak up on Kakashi from behind. Kakashi seems to blush as he covers his mouth from reading a certain page, almost smiling. Sasuke cringes. "Look at that fool. I can't believe he's our squad leader. He showed up an hour late and now he is reading that ridiculous manga. Sneaking up on him shouldn't be a problem," thought Sasuke. Sasuke lands behind Kakashi, who seems to be wide open, but when Sasuke does a sweep kick at his head, Kakashi ducks. Sasuke grunts for a second before charging at Kakashi, but the jonin does a rear kick, which Sasuke barely avoids in time. Sasuke bounces back from the back of his neck, flipping to his feet and lunging at Kakashi with two forward jump kicks, but Kakashi easily blocks them with one hand. Sasuke lands and gets angrier, but before he can charge again, Kakashi kicks him from behind, knocking him down.

Sakura is walking through the empty, green forest. She looks through the trees, hoping to spot even a glimmer of Sasuke's chakra. "Sasuke, where are you?" A hand touches her shoulder and she is startled. "Relax, it's me," said Naruto. Naruto then points his left index finger to his left. "If you're looking for Sasuke, he's over that way." "Great," said a now excited Sakura, but Naruto keeps her from running off. "Hold on. We need to work together on this. Sasuke rushed off after sensei on his own and that is why he is in trouble." Sakura now makes a spiteful look at Naruto. "And how exactly can you help, Naruto? You were rejected from the academy!" "I know more than you think, Sakura. Now come on."

Sasuke slowly rises to his feet, feeling the pain from being kicked in the face. Naruto and Sakura arrive with Sakura rushing to his side. "Sasuke!" Sasuke brushes her off by slapping her arm. "Go away! I don't need your help!" Naruto folds his arms, disapproving. "Really? Because that is not what I see! Kakashi sensei kicked your ass and now he's gone. Whether you want to admit it or not, you need help. I told you yesterday that we're a team, so let's act like one." Sasuke continues to rub his left jaw, still reeling from the pain. "Now, Kakashi sensei is straight ahead of us. I'll draw his attention while you two attack." Sakura is surprised by Naruto's knowledge. "How do you know that, Naruto? How do you know where he is?" "Guys, I need you with me on this. If we are going to pass this initiation test, then we need teamwork." Sasuke growls again. "Screw you! I know where he is now!" Sasuke takes off. "Sasuke!" Naruto makes a fist in anger. "Seriously, what is it with him?" Naruto looks right, seeing that Sakura has left also.

Naruto walks through the forest by himself, his hands by his sides as he balls them up into fists. "I swear, working with these two is a nightmare. Sasuke needs anger management and Sakura is acting like a ditzy fangirl. If this were a real mission, then we would be screwed." "You're right," shouts a voice. Kakashi lands in front of Naruto. "Kakashi sensei?" "Naruto, you are right. If this squad goes on a mission, then we need to trust each other, but if the team isn't willing to work together and our enemies see that, they will use that opportunity to kill us all." Kakashi takes out the ornament with the two bells on it. "You already saw the flaw on this, didn't you?" Naruto nods. "There are three of us and only two bells, which means that if two of us grabbed one, the third would be left out and possibly fail the test."

"Exactly. The true purpose of this test was teamwork and you passed that test, Naruto. Unfortunately, I can't run a squad with just two people, so Sakura and Sasuke will have to step it up." Naruto looks down. "What is it, Naruto?" "Sensei, when Sakura and Sasuke go on a mission, they will be expected to give it their all." Naruto looks up now with worry. "But I can't do that, sensei. I can't give it my all, because if I cut loose for even a moment, I may kill someone by accident, and I... I don't want that to happen." Naruto looks to his right, sensing his teammates. He now looks back at Kakashi. "Sensei, you want this team to work together? Okay, but I need your help."

Sakura is running, trying to find Sasuke when she hears someone shouting out to her. "Sakura!" Naruto lands in front of her from leaping through the trees. "I found Sasuke! Kakashi sensei has him captured! I think he's going to kill him!" Sakura becomes worried. "Where is he?" Naruto points right. "We have to go, now!"

Kakashi has Sasuke under his right knee, keeping him immobilized. Kakashi raises his head when he notices Naruto and Sakura arriving. "Sasuke," said a worried Sakura when Kakashi puts a kunai to Sasuke's throat. Sakura pauses. "So, you are finally here," said Kakashi. "I've observed this group and I have decided to fail you." Sakura widens her eyes in fear. "But why, Kakashi sensei?" Kakashi becomes upset. "Because you act more like spoiled brats than ninja. Sasuke, you have a superiority complex and a monstrous temper. You thought that you were so superior to Naruto and Sakura that you ignored their attempts to help you. Sakura, like Sasuke, you ignored Naruto's warnings about charging off on your own. You were so infatuated with Sasuke that Naruto didn't matter to you. Naruto, I congratulate you for trying to bring the team together. You put the needs of others before your own. You would make an excellent ninja. It's a shame that the only reason that you're failing is because the team failed you."

Kakashi releases Sasuke and creates a wooden post. He picks up Sasuke and ties him up on the wooden post. Sasuke struggles to no avail. "Now then. Naruto and Sakura, you are not to help Sasuke by any means. I'll be back." Sakura steps up to Sasuke. Sakura now turns to Naruto. "What do we do?" Naruto looks into her eyes. "A ninja must see through every deception." "What does that mean?" "Sakura, listen. A ninja must see through every deception." Naruto steps over and grabs the ropes that have Sasuke bound and with one hand, he snaps them off. Naruto and Sakura then catch Sasuke, who seems surprised. "You freed me? Why, after the way I treated you?" Naruto seems calm. "I told you. We're a team."

* * *

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are now sitting in the grass, eating their lunches. Kakashi stands far away with his back against the tree, somehow knowing what is going on. Sakura carries on a conversation as Kakashi ponders. "The three of them are finally bonding. They will need that connection in the field." As Sakura finishes, Naruto and Sasuke are laughing. Naruto seems surprised and looks at Sasuke. "Sasuke, you're laughing." Sasuke stops and seems to become embarrassed. Naruto puts his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, smiling. "It's okay, Sasuke. It's okay to smile." Sasuke looks at both Naruto and Sakura smiling at him. Sasuke lowers his head a little. "I've never had friends before." Kakashi closes his eye briefly in satisfaction. "I guess Naruto's plan worked." Kakashi thinks back to the woods when an orange blur zoomed past him with an unconscious Sasuke.

**Next Chapter: In the present day, Kakashi, Naruto and Temari visit a village of rogue ninja. Gaara and Kankuro think back to their first meeting with Naruto.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Sand Ninja**

_Present day_

Kakashi, Naruto and Temari stand inside of a gray throne room with a slim but long red carpet down the middle. Kakashi stands on Naruto's right with Temari on Naruto's left. Sitting on the throne in front of them is a man of average height with very fancy, short red hair and blue eyes. He wears a dark blue suit with black suit shoes and has a slightly muscular body type under his clothes. He has two ninja standing on each side of his throne. Kakashi speaks to the man on the throne. "Morgan Edge," said Kakashi. Morgan grips the arms on the throne. "Kakashi, what do I owe you for this visit," asked Morgan in a somewhat deep, proper voice. "I understand that you wanted me to bring the Kazekage's sister, but for what purpose," asked Kakashi. Morgan makes a light smile as he looks at Temari. "I have a thing for pretty girls." Temari becomes annoyed. "Cut to the chase," said Temari, "you wanted us here for a reason, and why did you want Naruto here? I thought you wanted jonin level or higher."

Morgan relaxes the grip on his throne, looking at Naruto now. "Which is exactly why I wanted him here. In rank, Naruto is below you, but we all know the truth, don't we?" Morgan presses a button on his throne's right arm. Black metallic shutters cover the sunroof, then the windows. With the press of another button, red lights shine from the shutters. Kakashi, Naruto and Temari are then brought to their knees by some of the rogue ninja with daggers held to their throats. "Hey, what's going on," shouted Naruto. Morgan lifts his right hand and points at Kakashi in a slightly angered voice. "Kakashi, you told me that you would bring the strongest ninja in your village with you today. At first, I thought you meant Tsunade because she is your leader." Morgan now points at Naruto. "But what you didn't tell me is that you have a Kryptonian in your squad, Kakashi! I know about the S-rank missions that you two have been going on, and I know that Naruto has fought his own people! You've been holding out on me, Kakashi!" "And what are you going to do with him," asked an angry Temari. The gang leader chuckles, folding his hands together. "Well, since Naruto is the only one who can fight Zod, I've decided to keep him. Temari, you will become one of my concubines." Kakashi looks at Naruto, then Naruto looks at Temari. Temari looks at her two allies, and the three of them nod at each other. All of a sudden, the three of them use substitution jutsu and knock out their captors. The three then run for the front door. "How are we going to break that seal," asked Temari. Naruto looks determined. "Leave it to me." "STOP THEM!" shouts Morgan.

* * *

As if going in slow motion, Naruto rams through the metallic shutters with his arms in front of him in his Nine Tails chakra form. Kakashi lands on a rooftop and shouts to his allies. "We'll split up to weaken their numbers. Temari, look after Naruto." Kakashi takes off as Naruto changes back to normal. Naruto and Temari run through the street of the rogue ninja village. They flash step onto a roof and then continue running. "You back to full strength yet," asked Temari. Naruto looks out the corners of his eyes at Temari. "Not yet."

Naruto and Temari flash step onto a feudal tower. The two of them are now crouched with Temari prepared to jump again. Naruto puts up his hand. "Wait," said Naruto. Temari seems concerned. "Wait? Why, Naruto?" Naruto then makes a giant leap into the nearby woods and makes a giant thud. Temari looks out and smiles. "Oh, right. I forgot." Temari drops her smile, waiting for a response from the woods. "Come on, Naruto," thought Temari. The Sand Ninja finally gets her response when she sees a figure soaring into the air. Naruto now hovers in front of her. "You coming?"

Gaara sits in his office, filling out some paperwork. Kankuro sits nearby, polishing his puppet as Gaara places the papers on top of a pile. "Any idea what is taking those three so long," asked Kankuro. "You know how these missions are, Kankuro." "But Naruto is with them." "Naruto is not perfect, Kankuro." "I know that, Gaara. I just thought they would have been back by now." Gaara seems to be staring off into space. Kankuro stops polishing his puppet, noticing that his younger brother seems to be lost in thought. "Gaara, what is it?" "I was just... thinking. It has been three years now since we met Naruto. During that time, the chunin exam was starting." Kankuro makes a soft laugh. "Yeah, who would have thought that puny Naruto was a lot stronger than he looked, but at that time, we had the same assumptions as the rest of his village."

_Three Years Ago_

Konohamaru is held up by his shirt by a taller Kankuro. Kankuro is bullying a group of kids as Konohamaru looks defiant. Kankuro has a sadistic smile on his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said, pipsqueak." Konohamaru struggles with his words. "Leave... my friends alone." Kankuro keeps his sadistic smile as he slams Konohamaru to the ground. Naruto sees this and starts running. "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THOSE KIDS?!" Kankuro turns his head left, seeing Naruto approaching. Naruto stops a few feet from Kankuro with a look of anger. "You've got some nerve, beating up a bunch of kids! Have you no honor?" Kankuro seems to be annoyed by Naruto's presence. "I'm a ninja, kid! Of course I don't, that's the point of our job!" "It takes a really big man to bully a bunch of kids! Is that part of your job, too?" Kankuro gets upset. "You're starting to annoy me, brat! What are you, some good little humanitarian? Ha! You'll be eaten alive with that attitude!" Konohamaru rises to his feet. "Naruto." Kankuro grabs Konohamaru by the hair, yanking him. "I'm not done with you, yet."

With blinding speed, Naruto grabs Kankuro's hand and applies pressure. Kankuro releases Konohamaru as Kankuro begins to grunt in pain. Naruto adds more pressure, causing Kankuro to scream in pain. "Let go!" Naruto keeps his look of anger, staring at Kankuro with fire in his eyes. Kankuro starts punching Naruto in the face, but his blows have no effect. "LET! GO! OF! ME!" Naruto throws Kankuro into the nearby wall, denting it slightly. Kankuro sits on the ground now, collapsing from the force. "You don't like it, do you? How does it feel to have someone attack you without reason? How does it feel to be bullied?" Naruto steps over to Kankuro and points back at Konohamaru. "This boy you were bullying? His name is Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of Hiruzen Sarutobi, aka the Third Hokage." Kankuro looks up with surprise. "You get it now, don't you? You came here for the chunin exam, so the last thing you want to do is get on the Third's bad side. Now stand up, walk over to Konohamaru, AND APOLOGIZE!"

Kankuro stands up and walks over to Konohamaru. He looks down at the boy, showing no emotion on his face. Kankuro now looks away in embarrassment. "Sorry." Kankuro walks away as Naruto now seems calm. Naruto looks at the tree behind the wall, seeing a boy with spiky red hair, standing upside down on the tree branch with his arms folded.

_Present day_

"At that time, we both thought it was a fluke that Naruto did what he did to you, Kankuro, not knowing that later, we would discover his true origin." Kankuro looks out the window, seeing the sun shining brightly over the Sand Village.

Meanwhile, back at the rogue ninja village, Naruto flies with Temari in his arms. Naruto flies slow to keep Temari safe. "You could speed up, you know," said Temari. "I'm flying slow to find Kakashi, and to keep you safe from high-speed flying." "I'm a big girl, Naruto. I don't need you to look out for me all the time. How fast can you go before you reach the sound barrier?" Naruto looks at her as she holds on to Naruto's neck. "I can fly at 300 mph, but that is as fast as I can go without hurting you." "Well, we need to find Kakashi. Put me down here." Naruto becomes concerned. "Kakashi also wanted you to stay with me." "You don't need a bodyguard, Naruto, and neither do I. Let's land."

Naruto and Temari are back on the streets. Naruto uses x-ray vision to look through the buildings. "What do you see," asked Temari. "Lots of alien tech, more specifically Brainiac's. I guess Intergang really has a thing for it, but most of it seems to be scrapped and piled into these houses." "I guess they were preparing for when the Kryptonians attacked." Naruto seems unimpressed. "Except the Kryptonians weren't even here yet. They wanted this tech for themselves." Temari places her hand on her hip. "Can't argue with that. Morgan Edge and his Intergang will do anything to increase their power base." Temari and Naruto are suddenly on guard as they feel enemies nearby. Two ninja appear, each one standing in front of Naruto or Temari. The one in front of Naruto has an androgynous appearance with a green kimono with white trimmings, dark gray hakama and clog sandals. He or she has very long, black hair. He or she has dark brown eyes and is shorter than Naruto. Standing in front of Temari is a taller man with short black, spiky hair with the lower half of his face covered in bandages. He has no shirt on and carries a giant sword. He wears gray military pants with bandages wrapped around his hands. Like the androgynous one, he has brown eyes.

"I have a profile on these two," said Temari with Naruto answering, "No need. I met them before, three years ago. My squad went on its first C-rank mission, but it turned out to be a lot more dangerous than that." The androgynous one smiles at Naruto, speaking in a very woman-like voice. "Naruto, we meet again." Naruto looks serious. "Haku. You joined Intergang?" Haku drops his smile. "Where else could we go? After Zabuza killed Gato, mercenary work was all we had left." Zabuza lifts his giant sword and points it at the three teenagers. "You should have let us die, Naruto, because now Morgan Edge wants you as his new weapon and he ordered us to bring you in." Naruto looks at Zabuza. "Where is Kakashi, Zabuza?" "Don't worry about your teacher. He has his hands full with my water clones. Now, are you coming quietly, Naruto, or do we have to play rough?" Naruto knows all too well about Zabuza's mist, but it won't work on Naruto and Zabuza knows this by now. However, Zabuza may have a trick up his non-existent sleeves. Temari looks over at Naruto, thinking about her first meeting with him.

* * *

_Flashback_

Naruto has left from the balcony of the chunin exam arena, walking down a long corridor. Directly in front of him, he sees a girl with a giant fan on her back. She has fuzzy, dirty blonde hair with four pigtails and blue eyes. She wears a white jacket and a dark blue skirt with fish net leg braces and dark blue sandals. Naruto is about to pass her up when she grabs his left arm. Naruto looks at her with the utmost curiosity. "Can I help you?" "You're Naruto Uzumaki, part of Kakashi's squad, right?" "Speaking." "I'm Temari. Kankuro is my brother." Naruto only looks stoic, analyzing her. "Is this about earlier? Your brother needs better manners." Temari squints in suspicion. "I find it rather puzzling that you are even in Kakashi's squad, considering that you were banned from the academy years ago. So how did you do it, Naruto? Did you use your father's Hokage rank?" Naruto maintains silence. "No, it was something else, wasn't it? It had to be a bribe." Naruto takes her hand off of his arm.

"It was none of those things, Temari. I'm in Kakashi sensei's squad because he trusts me." Temari now feels compelled to reject that answer. "Trust you? You're an academy reject! If he trusts you, then the Hokage needs to seriously re-evaluate his job performance!" Temari unfolds her giant fan, pointing it at Naruto. "I will ask you again. How did you join Kakashi's squad?" "Threatening me won't make me talk, and picking a fight with me in this corridor during the chunin exam is a good way to get reprimanded. Besides, even if I told you the answer, what will you accomplish?" Temari folds up her fan and puts it on her back again. She now begins to walk away from Naruto as he makes one last statement. "Some things are best kept secret, Temari. That's why we are ninja." Temari pauses for a moment to look back, but Naruto has already vanished. Temari now ponders on his words. "That's why we're ninja."

_End of flashback_

Temari and Naruto have both made short work of their opponents. With Zabuza knocked out, the water clones have stopped attacking Kakashi. Naruto takes to the sky and uses his vision to pinpoint Kakashi's location. "There you are."

Tsunade stands outside by the gate, waiting for Kakashi and Naruto to return from their mission. Ever since she discovered Naruto's origin three years ago, she hasn't been sure how to handle Naruto's seemingly godlike powers. Though his abilities frighten her, she has come to know him and that fear has become trust, but the council and Danzo want to keep Naruto on a leash to keep him from losing control. "Hokage," shouts Naruto, slowly landing from above with Kakashi holding on from behind. Kakashi releases his hold and steps over to Tsunade. "I take it that the mission went well," questioned Tsunade. Kakashi seems let down by her comment. "Not quite. Intergang tried to capture Naruto to use as their personal weapon, but then that was to be expected." Tsunade now turns her head to Naruto. "So you dropped off Temari, then?" "Yes, but I needed to ask you something, Lady Hokage." "Okay. What is it, Naruto?" Naruto now looks a bit concerned. "Is Sasuke at home?"

* * *

Sasuke stands inside of his old house, perfectly still as always. He now wears a white kimono with dark blue pants and clog sandals. A wind blows past him, but Sasuke seems to know what it is. "So, back from your mission with Kakashi," asked Sasuke. Sasuke looks out the corner of his eye, seeing Naruto standing behind him. "I keep telling you, Sasuke, you don't have to keep coming back here. This place even makes me gloomy." "I'm not gloomy," replied an annoyed Sasuke, "I'm just... thinking. That's why I keep coming back here, Naruto, to think. This is my sanctuary. Besides, shouldn't you be headed back underground before the elders get pissed at you again?" "I still have some time left, so I came to see you." Sasuke turns around to face his teammate. Sasuke keeps an emotionless look on his face.

"Worry about yourself, Naruto. I don't need a Superman watching over my shoulder all the time." Naruto pauses for a few seconds, then approaches Sasuke. The two of them then bump fists before Naruto takes off as an orange blur. Sasuke smirks. "See you, Naruto."

**Next Chapter: In the present day, Orochimaru is a prisoner in the village of his birth. Orochimaru has his own tale of his first meeting with Naruto, and is disgusted by the presence of an all-powerful Sun God.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Orochimaru and Tsunade**

Orochimaru runs on a treadmill inside of the prison gym while holding two twenty-five pound dumbbells. Tsunade stands nearby, keeping a close eye on him. Tsunade told the elders a while back that she is the best qualified to watch him at certain time periods. Tsunade did this because like herself, Orochimaru is a sage, but also hoping that her childhood friend is still in there somewhere. Orochimaru has taken his shirt off, but wears black pants with dark blue sandals. His very long black hair flaps a little as he continues to workout on the treadmill.

Later, he moves on to the bench press. He is lifting 150 pounds on each side of the bar bell. Tsunade notices Orochimaru's increased muscle mass, although before he was only slightly muscular. "Go on, say it," said Orochimaru. Tsunade seems a bit confused. "Say what?" "Come on, Tsunade, I know what you're thinking. We've known each other since we were kids." Tsunade now looks more serious. "Alright. Orochimaru, why all the extra training? I mean, we're ninja, so training comes with the job, but you've hit the weights pretty hard this past year. It's almost like you're obsessed with it." "Not obsessed, Tsunade. I just want to keep my strength up, that's all, and since my chakra is gone, there's not much else I can do, is there?" Orochimaru puts the bar bell back on its holder. He sits up, squinting angrily at Tsunade. "Tell me it doesn't sicken you, Tsunade. Imagine training your whole life, only to find out that no matter what you do, you just can't cut it. Imagine living in a world where you are the only mortal among a race of gods. As a mortal, you have to work for a living; nothing is handed to you. However, since everyone else is a god, everything is handed to them and they can live a life of ease." Orochimaru looks down at his right fist, squeezing it tight as he raises his bicep and flexes it.

"In a world with Naruto, that is how I feel. Ever since childhood, my powers weren't handed to me; I had to work for them, but Naruto? Because he's from Krypton, his ninja powers came to him easily! He didn't have to work for it, he just glanced at the techniques and voilà, he's a master!" Orochimaru stands up, still flexing his bicep. "Do you see this, Tsunade? This takes hard work! It wasn't handed to me, and if I don't keep working out, I'll lose this muscle. Naruto doesn't have that problem because all he needs is a little sun." "You sound jealous, Orochimaru." "Of him?! Don't be ridiculous! I just can't stand how everyone is flocking to him now!" Orochimaru lowers his arm. "You think I don't know what they're saying about him? Three years ago, everyone was afraid of Naruto, but now some of the villagers are actually praising him. In time, the whole village will fall victim to that sanctimonious image of his. Maybe the whole ninja world." Tsunade folds her arms. "So you're saying it is wrong for people to trust him?" "Trust?! You...," Orochimaru looks at Tsunade with a disgusted look on his face. "Don't tell me you're falling for it, too? You of all people, Tsunade!"

"What is that supposed to mean? Naruto has kept his powers under control these past three years! He's been working hard to gain everyone's trust and it's working! I see no problem with that!" Orochimaru stands about an inch away from Tsunade as if he is going to do something. "Have you forgotten why you left the Leaf Village, Tsunade? You wanted nothing to do with it after your lover died. What changed, Tsunade? Is it because of that boy, that THING from the stars?" Tsunade becomes upset. "Don't call him that!" Orochimaru seems to be getting angrier. "You treat him like he's human, but the truth is he's not! He may have Kushina's blood, but that is a forgery, a falsehood to hide what he is!" "But he's a person, Orochimaru! He has feelings too! He's not perfect, but he is doing the best he can! That's all any of us can hope for!" Orochimaru steps closer to Tsunade as she covers her large breasts with her arms folded.

"Do you want to know what I hoped for years ago? To become Hokage. I wanted to prove myself to the people of the Leaf Village, to show them that I was more than what they thought of me." Orochimaru places his finger under Tsunade's chin. "But I knew that would never happen, not as long as you were present. They wanted more than just skill or intelligence; they wanted a certain bloodline. Royalty is always picked by bloodline, and the Hokage is no different." Orochimaru slowly lowers his finger. "Do you want to know the real reason why they picked you, Tsunade? Not because of your talent or your expertise, but because of your name! SENJU! TSUNADE SENJU! You are Hashirama's granddaughter and you inherited some of his power!" Orochimaru now looks depressed. "How could I compete with that?"

"So you turned on us, your own village? None of the things you mentioned justifies your actions, Orochimaru, and that is why you are in jail!" Tsunade leans into Orochimaru's face, glaring at him with unholy anger. "You murdered our teacher! Hiruzen sensei treated us like family and that wasn't enough for you! Even after you sacrificed several villagers for your monstrous experiments, Hiruzen sensei still refused to kill you! Now you want to stand in judgement over Naruto for what, for surpassing you?!" Tsunade unfolds her arms and steps back from Orochimaru. "You haven't changed, Orochimaru! You're still a narcissistic jackass who puts yourself above others! You think because you achieved Sannin status that it makes you better than everyone else, and you wonder why you were a wanted criminal for so long? You're a self-worshipping sociopath who has murdered civilians for your own gain!"

Orochimaru sits back down on the bench press. He squints his eyes a little, deep in thought. The snake sage has now calmed down. "Tsunade... do you remember where you were three years ago? After I killed Hiruzen sensei, you weren't exactly Hokage material. Even now, you are still plagued by your gambling addiction, aren't you?" Tsunade looks away for a moment, feeling remorseful. "I guess we all have our faults." "I never once said that I was perfect, Tsunade, but I desired it. I wanted to overcome the boundaries placed upon us by our goddess, Kaguya." Tsunade unfolds her arms and sits down beside Orochimaru. Her anger has temporarily passed as she recalls the past, thinking about a time when the world wasn't against them. "Did you ever once stop to think about it, Orochimaru? Did you ever doubt yourself, even for a second, when you committed your crimes?" Orochimaru looks left at Tsunade, a look of concern or at least his version of it.

"I wonder if Naruto ever stops to consider his actions, not that he needs to. Perhaps if I had some of his blood...," "I'm going to stop you right there, Orochimaru. We both know that if you had that kind of power, you would go crazy with it! Naruto has the power and it burdens him!" Orochimaru looks forward again and sighs. "I used to think that Hashirama had the most valuable blood in the ninja world, until Naruto showed up and upset the balance of power."

* * *

_Three Years Ago..._

Tsunade sits inside of a small casino at a booth, drinking from a small cup of saké. Sitting right in front of her is a young woman in a black robe with white trimmings. She has dark eyes and short black hair and on her feet are stilettos. The young woman seems to be disappointed. "Lady Tsunade, you gambled all of our earnings again. How are we supposed to eat?" Tsunade puts down her sake cup, blushing at her assistant. "Shizune, do you have any cash on you?" Shizune puts her hands defensively. "Now wait a minute! I just told you that we need grocery money!" Tsunade pounds the table with her fist. Her eyes waver a bit as she seems to be slightly drunk. "And if you give me your cash, we can win the money we need!" "But Lady Tsunade, you're a terrible gambler! Besides, I was going to go grocery shopping right after we left from here!" Just then, Naruto walks inside the small casino. Walking in right after him is a tall man with puffy white hair with red paint on the top half of his face. He wears baggy gray-white clothing with a red vest and Japanese clog sandals with red straps. The tall man speaks to Naruto. "See that blonde woman over there, Naruto? That's her." Naruto and the middle-aged ninja walk over to Tsunade's table. The two of them stand by the table, but then Naruto notices Shizune. Naruto then takes a bow. "Hi, ma'am. I'm Naruto." Shizune smiles at the boy's manners. "Shizune. Pleased to meet you, Naruto." "Why are you here, Jiraiya," asked Tsunade. Jiraiya now looks serious.

"We're here for you, Tsunade. Something came up back in the Hidden Leaf Village. We need you to come home." "And what makes you think that I want to go back?" Naruto folds his arms behind him. "Well, you could go back to gambling all of your money away, but you did that already, which is why you're sitting at this table, because you feel defeated. Shizune is upset with you because you spent all of your food money. How am I doing so far?" Tsunade and Shizune are in awe. Tsunade now looks at Jiraiya. "Who is this kid?" "Can't you tell, Tsunade? He's your relative." Tsunade looks at Naruto, carefully analyzing him. "What's your mom's name, Naruto?" "Kushina Uzumaki." "I see. How did you know I gambled my money away without even seeing me?" Naruto clears his throat. "I heard you talking to Shizune right before Jiraiya and I entered. I take it that the two of you were staying at a hotel, but with your earnings gone, you can't afford to go back. I guess going home isn't a bad idea at this point, right, Shizune?" Shizune nods in agreement. "Lady Tsunade, he has a very good point. I barely have enough for the food we need." Tsunade looks at Jiraiya again, suspicious.

"I know why you're really here. You want me to be Hokage, don't you? Well forget it! I'm never going back! Hokage is for delusional fools who think they can change the world! Even a sage doesn't have that power!" Jiraiya now looks at Naruto. "What about someone stronger than a sage," asked Jiraiya as he speaks to Tsunade with a smirk. Tsunade now gets angry. "Don't mess with me, Jiraiya!" Jiraiya drops his smirk. "I'm not." "Excuse me for interrupting, but I think I have a solution. Since you like to gamble, I'll give you an ultimatum. Give me a challenge, any challenge and I'll do it. If I win, you come back with us," said Naruto inquisitively. Tsunade stands up, looking down at the young ninja. "Alright."

Naruto now stands in front of Tsunade in an open plain. Tsunade holds her hands on her hips, coldly observing Naruto. "Alright, Naruto. Your challenge is to master the Rasengan. It is a Wind Style jutsu, allowing you to blow away your enemies. First, I will give you a demonstration, then I will let you try it." Tsunade lifts her right wrist, channeling her chakra into her right hand as she holds it up in a cup shape. Suddenly, a pale blue energy ball appears in Tsunade's right hand. Tsunade lowers her right wrist and then points the energy ball at Naruto. "This is the Rasengan. One blast from this and your enemies will be sent flying. Now you try." Tsunade dissolves the ball and lowers her hand to her side again. Naruto slowly lifts his right wrist, focusing on what he saw. Tsunade closes her eyes for just a moment when... "Is this it," asked Naruto. Tsunade's eyes open wide, in awe of him once again as Naruto's Rasengan is twice the size of hers. "Naruto, how did you master it so quickly?" Naruto dissolves the ball before lowering his hand. Suddenly, Naruto and Tsunade feel two disturbing chakras approach them. The first is a young man with silver hair tied back in a ponytail. He has dark eyes behind his black rimmed glasses. He wears a gray-black outfit with fingerless gloves and the same dark blue sandals that most of the Leaf Village wears.

The second man has very long black hair and pale gray skin. The scleras in his eyes are yellow like a snake's. Ironically, he has snake pupils and snake fangs in his teeth. He wears a tan long-sleeved shirt with rope tied around the waist and purple pants with the same dark blue sandals as the man with glasses. The man with glasses adjusts them, making a confident smile. "Well Orochimaru, it seems that they found Tsunade first. What do we do?" Orochimaru makes a grumbling, sadistic laugh. "So, the academy reject is here. Shouldn't you be back at home with your mother," asked the man with glasses. Tsunade seems to know who the man is. "Kabuto. You seem to be keeping interesting company, Orochimaru." Orochimaru literally bears his fangs. "So you're teaching this boy the Rasengan, Tsunade? I thought you gave up the life of a ninja. It seems that he mastered the Rasengan rather quickly." Kabuto laughs under his breath. "Of course that was an accident. He has the Nine Tailed Fox chakra, but that's it! Without that, he is exactly as everyone else sees him, a reject."

Tsunade steps forward, turning her eyes to Orochimaru. "Why are you here?" "Didn't Jiraiya tell you? Hiruzen is dead." "And you killed him, right? I knew you resented our master after you lost favor in becoming Hokage, but this..." Naruto walks over to Kabuto. Kabuto looks smug at the younger ninja, but Naruto has burning anger on his face. "What do you want, reject?"

A loud thud can be heard through the area. A giant dust cloud rips through the nearby woods as a body is seen, knocked through those woods. The dust cloud settles a minute later as Tsunade and Orochimaru look in absolute terror. They slowly look back at Naruto, unable to fathom how he was able to knock Kabuto half a mile through the woods with one punch. "Who is this kid," thought Tsunade. Just then, Kabuto flash steps back to the open plain, badly bruised with his mouth bleeding. He is out of breath, but his face begins to boil with extreme anger. "Kid, you shouldn't have done that!" "Yes, Kabuto, I should have! I'm fully aware of the corpses you amassed since your return to the Leaf Village! You killed four people and then used their corpses as puppets!" Naruto now turns his angry gaze to Orochimaru. "Don't think I forgot about you, snake sage, because when I'm done with Kabuto, you're next!"

Kabuto lunges at Naruto with a right jab. He punches Naruto's forehead, right on his headband, but Naruto doesn't flinch. Kabuto punches him three more times, two times in the stomach and once on his right jaw, but all he does is hurt himself. Naruto steps over to Kabuto and places his right hand on Kabuto's shoulder. Kabuto becomes curious, but then with relative ease, Naruto shoves him into the ground, with only his head still visible. Tsunade becomes shocked once again, but Orochimaru becomes annoyed. "Hey! Get me out of here," shouts Kabuto. Naruto simply strolls over to Orochimaru, who seems to be sweating nervously. "So you beat Kabuto. Big deal, kid. You think beating him makes you a match for me?!" Naruto continues to look angry at Orochimaru, but the snake sage seems to be building his own anger.

"Don't delude yourself into thinking you are in my league, Naruto! This is no game, kid! You challenge me, you die!" "Naruto, get away from him," shouts Tsunade, seemingly worried about Naruto's safety. Orochimaru makes the first move, throwing a paper charm on Naruto. The paper explodes, covering Naruto in flames. Orochimaru laughs maniacally and Tsunade is about to charge in when she sees that Naruto is still standing. With a high-speed movement, Naruto spins like a top, then stops himself, completely undamaged. Orochimaru is at a loss for words for a few seconds before making his next move. Orochimaru stretches out his tongue and wraps it around Naruto. He then unleashes a swarm of snakes on the preteen. Orochimaru makes a psychotic laugh, believing that he has won. Just then, two red glowing lights come from within the swarm of snakes. Two red-hot beams burn through the swarm, burning Orochimaru's tongue. Orochimaru releases Naruto, pulling his tongue back into his mouth. With insane speed, Naruto grabs Orochimaru's left side and begins to apply pressure with one hand. Orochimaru struggles to make Naruto release him, but to no avail. With a palm strike, Naruto hits Orochimaru on the forehead. Orochimaru felt like he was hit by a building.

"Let go!" Naruto squeezes tighter on Orochimaru's side. Orochimaru now tries to think. "How?! How is this reject overpowering me?!" Without warning, Naruto releases his hold on Orochimaru. Naruto turns around, slowly walking over to Tsunade, but Orochimaru is now furious. "Get back here! Don't walk away from me!" Naruto continues to ignore him. "DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!" Naruto stops by Tsunade's left side. She looks at him with complete awe and perhaps a little fear. "He's all yours," said Naruto. Tsunade is a bit startled by this. She looks back at Orochimaru, curious about the genin who has overpowered a sage so easily. "He could have beaten Orochimaru, even killed him with ease, but he didn't. Why?" Tsunade wonders until the answer comes to her. Orochimaru's eyes now waver in fear.

"That boy is a monster! He can't be human! I understand now, the real reason he was rejected! It's not because he was too weak... it's because he was too strong!" Orochimaru becomes angry again. "Does it make sense now, Tsunade? Do you understand why you must never go back? If you forfeit the position of Hokage, only two candidates remain, and those candidates are Kakashi and Danzo, but Kakashi is not yet ready for Hokage, giving the seat to Danzo. I imagine that is the real reason that the Leaf Village, more specifically Kakashi and Jiraiya wanted to find you, because if Danzo takes over, I believe that he will have this boy killed. He'll try, anyway." Tsunade looks at Naruto, seeing worry on his face. "So if I give the seat to Danzo, I condemn an innocent boy to die," asked Tsunade in her mind. Her hand begins to shake a little from the decision at hand. She didn't want to become Hokage because she saw it as a dead-end job, a catastrophe waiting to happen and in this case she is half right, but meeting Naruto and surprised by his power and his intellect...

"I can't. I can't let it happen again," thought Tsunade. Tsunade is walking toward Orochimaru now, her eyes no longer wavering. "This boy... no, Naruto was rejected from the academy, but he still continues to fight for what he believes in. I thought only delusional fools became Hokage." Tsunade looks back at Naruto. "But Naruto has too much potential to throw away. Maybe I'm a sucker for sob stories, but he needs my help." Tsunade looks back at Orochimaru. "I'm not going to let Danzo kill some kid without just cause." Orochimaru squints, curious about his former friend's new motivation. "You will fight for him, a kid you barely know? Some freak rejected from the academy? Danzo's right, you know; if left unchecked, he will destroy the world. Are you going to fight for him?" "If Danzo truly believes Naruto is a threat, it is because he is trying to pass blame for his own sins! I'm not just fighting for Naruto, but the integrity of the village! I see now that it was a mistake to leave, seeing how far the village will fall!" Tsunade is now in a fighting stance. "I am Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage!"

* * *

_Present day_

Tsunade walks into Naruto's red sun chamber, seeing him lifting a fifty pound dumbbell while sitting on his bed on Tsunade's left. She pauses for a moment before going to sit beside him. Tsunade smiles. "How are you, Naruto? Have you eaten yet?" Naruto pants a bit. "I was just about to." "Well, get ready to leave. Kakashi is treating your squad to dinner. Maybe this is your chance to eat something other than ramen."

Naruto leaves the underground facility with Tsunade. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke stand in front of him with Kakashi checking his watch. "I booked a table for us in the next town over. It's one of those fancy restaurants." Sakura folds her hands happily. "Kakashi said they have some really good stuffed pita bread. I can't wait!" Sasuke seems bored. "So you charged up yet, Naruto? I can use my curse mark to fly, but of course I can't fly as fast as you." Naruto then performs Shadow Clone jutsu, creating three clones. Each clone grabs one of Naruto's teammates and takes off while the original speaks with Tsunade. "Since you will be with your squad, Kakashi is responsible for you. Hopefully, you won't get attacked by one of Zod's soldiers." Naruto takes to the sky, catching up with his squad. Tsunade turns around to walk back to her office.

**Next Chapter: Three years ago, Neji was considered the strongest genin, but his treatment of his cousin, Hinata, did not go unnoticed. When Neji finally goes too far, Naruto challenges him.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Hyuga Clan**

_In the original timeline, Naruto faced Neji during the chunin exam in response to his brutal beating of his cousin, Hinata. At first, Naruto wasn't sure if he would win, but he knew that this was his first step toward becoming Hokage. It was a close call, but Naruto had defeated Neji in the chunin exam. However, Orochimaru's attack of the village had distracted everyone. Regardless, Shikamaru had won the chunin exam and was promoted to chunin._

_Since Naruto did not compete in this new reality, Neji advanced further into the chunin exam. Naturally, Shikamaru still won, but Neji had yet to temper his arrogance. Without Naruto's victory over him, Neji still has much to learn._

_Three Years Ago_

Neji's long black hair stretches just past his shoulders. He wears his tan coat with the straps on the back and bandages wrapped around his right arm. He wears dark shorts with bandages on the right leg of the shorts and black sandals. Neji pauses, seeing Naruto walking down the street toward him. Neji makes a spiteful look at Naruto, but Naruto seems to be preoccupied with the two paint cans that he is carrying. Naruto then notices Neji. "Hey, Neji." Naruto passes him up, but Neji continues to look with spite at the orange ninja. "What is that reject up to?"

Naruto dips the paintbrush into the can of yellow paint. With blinding speed, he covers a small part of a wall with a pentagon facing down. He then covers the yellow pattern with a red outline and then with another coat of red paint, he forms an S in the center. Naruto smiles, taking pride in his work. "There, that should do it." Naruto puts the paintbrush down as Neji slowly approaches by walking. Naruto keeps his smile. "Oh, hi Neji. Come and take a look at this." Neji steps over to the wall, seeing the strange logo that Naruto has painted. Neji becomes curious by the red and yellow symbol. "What does the S stand for," asked Neji. Naruto makes kind of a goofy expression of thought. "Well, my mom showed it to me years ago. I thought about it, but I don't think it's really an S. I think it stands for something else." Neji coldly but calmly turns his eyes to Naruto. "And what do you think it stands for?" Naruto thinks for a second and then pops a golden smile at Neji. "Hope."

Neji had left Naruto to his devices minutes ago, a cold look in his eyes as he thinks about Naruto's words. "Hope. Only a simpleton like him would come up with something like that. Our fates are decided for us, and he believes in something so fragile, so useless as hope? No wonder he's a reject." Neji suddenly becomes curious as he sees his two cousins over by a tree, talking to each other. Hinata has removed her coat, wearing just her dark blue outfit. The bottom of her shirt is slightly raised, her left hand softly rubbing the bandages on her abdomen from her fight with Neji. Hanabi wears her dark gray outfit as she holds Hinata's hand with a look of concern. "How are you, Hinata? Are you healing okay?" Hinata makes a pained smile at her younger sister. "I'm fine. I just need to regain my bearings." Hanabi now becomes angry. "Where is Neji? He's gone too far this time!" Neji approaches the girls with Hinata squinting slightly in fear. Hanabi's stare at her older cousin is not a pleasant one. "I heard about what happened. You tried to kill Hinata during the match!" "If Hinata would train more, she wouldn't be in that condition in the first place." "How dare you! It was the chunin exam, Neji, not a mission!" "What I did to her was nothing! Did you see what happened to Lee after his fight with Gaara? His condition was worse!" Neji tries to get closer to Hinata, but Hanabi steps in front of both him and her sister with her arms out.

"Get out of my way, Hanabi." "Hinata just got out of the medical ward. Leave her alone!" Neji shoves Hanabi to the side, standing a few inches away from Hinata's face. "We're not done."

Hanabi is running through the village frantically, seeing Naruto strolling down the street. Hanabi stops to catch her breath as Naruto looks concerned. "Hanabi, what is it?" "Naruto, Neji took Hinata right outside the gate. I'm afraid he might kill her this time!" Naruto seems apathetic. "Why didn't you stop him?" "I tried and I dare not take him on. Neji is a lot stronger than me; I'm no match for him." Hanabi now looks serious. "But you are, Naruto." "I don't know what you mean." "Yes, you do. The people in the village all assume that you're weak, but you're not. You're stronger than Sasuke, even stronger than the Hokage, and Tsunade is supposed to be a sage!" Naruto maintains his apathy. "I can't help you, Hanabi." Hanabi becomes worried. "Why not?!" "A few months ago, you told me how my powers worked, that I am solar-powered. I've tried to keep that side of myself hidden from the rest of the village." "But it's too late for that, Naruto! The villagers are already talking about how you never come home with any injuries or breaking a sweat after each mission. Look, Hinata needs help, Naruto!"

"I can't expose myself. Fighting Neji will do just that." "But you're invincible!" "I'm sorry." Naruto is about to walk away, when... "I thought you wanted to be Hokage." Naruto looks back at Hanabi. She has a look of sorrow in her eyes. "You said you wanted to become Hokage, Naruto. The Hokage's job is to protect this village, but to also inspire it. How can you do that if you're too afraid of what people might think of you?" Naruto looks toward the gates now, thinking about what Hanabi has said. "Hinata looks up to you, Naruto and so do the younger kids. What will she think of you if you let people like Neji push others around?" Naruto remains silent.

Neji stands still with his right palm facing Hinata. "Again," said Neji. Hinata pants heavily with her palm facing him. "Neji, I haven't recovered yet." "I said do it again!" Hinata attacks with a palm strike, only to be knocked into a tree by Neji. Hinata sits against the tree, trying to regain her bearings. Neji stands over her. "Pathetic! How you remain in the main house is beyond me!" "I told you, Neji, I'm still healing." "Lee was in worse shape than you and yet he's back on his feet again! I'm still appalled that someone like him is on my squad!" Hinata looks serious now. "Lee is stronger than you think, Neji! He held his own during Orochimaru's invasion. Tell me, what exactly did you do?" Neji becomes angrier. "Excuse me?!" "You're still upset about what I said to you during the chunin exam. You talk about fate being inescapable, but that's a lie. If you truly believed that, then you wouldn't be trying so hard to earn my father's attention. That's the real reason you're so hostile towards me, isn't it, Neji?!"

Neji places his right foot on top of Hinata's abs and applies pressure. He slowly begins to press harder. "I don't have to explain myself to a reject like you, Hinata! Uncle Hiashi gave up on training you because you were too soft! You're even softer than that failure, Naruto!" Neji presses harder as Hinata begins to scream. By surprise, Neji's arm is pulled, pulling him away from Hinata and back toward the gate walls. Naruto is pulling Neji, who struggles in vain to release himself as his feet drags on the ground. "How? How is he this strong," thought a surprised Neji. Naruto brings him back inside the gates before slamming Neji against the wall and holding him by the forehead with just his thumb.

"I was trying to have a nice, quiet, peaceful day today. I was trying to take my mind off of the crap that's been happening lately. Tell me, Neji, would Hiruzen approve of how you were treating Hinata right now?" Naruto grimaces. "Tomorrow, Neji. Tomorrow, we fight." Neji seems a bit shocked. "We'll be in the chunin exam arena tomorrow. See you then." Naruto releases him and walks away.

* * *

Neji now sits down in the Hyuga household. Hiashi sits in front of Neji with his hands folded inside of his large kimono sleeves. "The nerve of that loser! Challenging me? Can you believe that, Uncle?" Hiashi looks blank. "I say you do it." Neji is confused. "You can't be serious, Uncle Hiashi! Why should I waste my time fighting that reject?!" "For the same reason you wasted mine, forcing my injured daughter, your cousin, to fight with you! Do you know why you lost to Shikamaru, Neji?" Neji grunts. "Because he's a genius." "That's not the only reason." Neji now raises his voice. "Fine then, uncle! Why did I lose to Shikamaru?!" Hiashi squints his eyes with cold anger. "If you have to ask, then you don't deserve an answer." Neji looks at his uncle as Hiashi stands up and turns left, walking toward another room. "I don't see what..." "You tried to kill Hinata," said Hiashi looking coldly into Neji's eyes before walking toward the back room. "Fight Naruto tomorrow, Neji. It should be a humbling experience for you." Hiashi closes the door behind him as he tends to Hinata.

That night, Naruto sits on his bed. Kushina stands in front of him with strong curiosity. "Are you sure about this, Naruto? If you do this, there's no turning back. Your secret will come out." "It's already coming out, mom. Sakura has told the villagers about our missions. Some of the people in the village are starting to look at me differently; they don't even call me a reject anymore." Kushina places her hand on his shoulder. "I'm happy that you are proving yourself to the village, but I don't want this to backfire." "I know, mom. I'll just use what you and Jiraiya taught me."

Kushina stands outside under the moonlight, gazing up at its brilliant radiance. Jiraiya approaches from behind with a concerned look on his face. "If he goes through with this, then you'll have no choice but to tell him," said Jiraiya. "I know, but Naruto's secret is about to come out anyway. We live in a village of ninja; sooner or later, the people were going to ask questions about why Naruto is never injured or sweaty after a mission. I knew how powerful he was when he was given to me, but as he got older, his abilities kicked in and I couldn't feel his chakra anymore. Now I know why." Jiraiya maintains his concern. "It's because he's simply too powerful. By all accounts, Naruto is a god, because only two beings that we know of has chakra that immense: the Ten Tails and our goddess, Kaguya." "I'm worried, Jiraiya, worried that the villagers may turn on him in some way." "Have faith in the boy, Kushina. I know that Naruto will try to limit himself in some way." Kushina smiles. "You're right, Jiraiya."

The next morning, Neji stands inside of the chunin exam arena. On the upper level to his left, Ino stands next to her teammates, Shikamaru and Choji. Shikamaru stands with his arms folded as Ino looks down into the arena with a somewhat cocky smile. "Can you believe the nerve of that reject, challenging Neji? Naruto has a death wish if he thinks he can beat Neji!" "Don't be so sure, Ino," said Shikamaru, "Naruto is a lot stronger than you think." Ino looks to her right at Shikamaru. "Come on, Shikamaru, don't tell me you believe that whole boy scout image of his. He's just trying to fool us into thinking he's cool." "You clearly don't know him very well, Ino. Have you ever spoken with Naruto?" Shikamaru looks back at the arena. "You weren't there when he enlisted at the academy. You didn't see what I saw. Choji was there, too." Ino becomes curious. "What did you see?" "Before Naruto enlisted at the academy, he was just a normal kid. In fact, he was downright immature. He used to play childish pranks on people and even got beat up a few times when trying to help some kids. However, when he started his lessons at the academy, everything changed. When we were taught how to focus our chakra for the first time, Naruto seemed to do it right away. At first, it seemed like beginner's luck, but then things got strange."

_Flashback_

Naruto looks in horror as everything in his line of sight begins to stretch away. In an instant, he sees through the walls of the classroom and the insides of the people inside the classroom. Naruto looks left and right frantically as Iruka approaches him with worry in his voice. "Naruto, what's wrong?!" Naruto begins to panic and runs out of the room. Iruka chases after him as Naruto seems to be running for his life. "Naruto, wait! Where are you going?!" Naruto tries to sprint, when suddenly he creates a boom, blowing Iruka back and on his bottom. Naruto busts through the wall, leaving a giant hole. Iruka looks on in shock.

_End of flashback_

"After that strange incident, Naruto began to improve on everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. Academics, speech, jutsu, trustworthiness. Naruto was acing everything at the school with little to no effort. About one month later, the village elders had Naruto banned from the academy." Ino looks shocked. "I... I had no idea." "Of course you didn't, Ino. The elders played it off like he was some lowlife because it was easier than the truth. They didn't want to admit that in a few short years, Naruto would surpass them all, so they limited his training to home school. Naruto has been shunned all this time by the village and not just because of the Nine Tails, but because he was rejected from the academy." Ino looks into the arena, seeing Naruto walking in. Ino then sees Sakura arrive from her left, staring at her teammate.

"Sakura, what is Naruto like on your missions with him," asked Ino. Sakura continues to look at Naruto. "At first, I assumed that he was a bratty loser who got rejected, but since I started going on missions with him, I began to learn more about him. He is kind and optimistic, and is willing to put our needs before his own. The people of the village still see him as an outcast, but some of them are starting to open up to him. I believe this fight will make that happen."

The announcer begins to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the chunin exam arena today. In this corner, he is a prodigy among the genin. Known for his strong taijutsu and his perceptive combat talents, he is Neji Hyuga! And opposing Neji is the academy reject. He has been home schooled by his mother and has abilities that we have yet to see. He is Naruto Uzumaki!" Neji gets into a fighting stance, staring hard at Naruto. "Look at him. I can't even feel his chakra. This fight will be over in no time," thought Neji. "Begin," shouts the announcer. Neji flash steps from Naruto's sight. As if in slow motion, Neji swings his left leg for a kick from behind. Naruto is standing still. "Fool, he's wide open," thought Neji. Suddenly, Naruto blocks the kick with his arm. The audience and Neji are surprised, but Shikamaru only squints a little.

Neji jumps back as Naruto lowers his arm. Neji grunts. "That means nothing." Neji flash steps again, throwing a right jab, but Naruto catches his fist. Neji leaps back again, becoming slightly irritated. Neji gets back into his fighting stance before charging at Naruto. With two jabs and a palm strike, Naruto grabs Neji's wrist and shoves him several yards. Neji stares at Naruto but then tries to calm himself. "So you have some moves, but the truth is your destiny has been decided. You are a reject, so don't think you can be one of us." Neji runs at Naruto and Shikamaru makes a calm response. "It begins." Neji goes on the offense as Naruto defends. Neji strikes his palms up at Naruto's head, who just blocks. Neji twists around with an elbow strike as Naruto counters with his own, folding his right arm down. Naruto and Neji kick at the same time with Naruto's leg catching Neji's and holding it down. With a moderate barrage of palm strikes and punches, Naruto blocks them all before grabbing Neji's arms and pushing him back with ease, simply walking.

Neji struggles to break free as Naruto finally lets him go. Neji retaliates with a chakra punch, but Naruto catches it and throws Neji over his head and behind him. Neji barely lands on his feet and begins to reanalyze Naruto. "What's going on? Why can't I hit him? And why hasn't he attacked me?" Neji thought this to himself. Up on the balcony, Ino is shocked by Naruto's show of talent. "So what gives, Shikamaru? Is Naruto holding back?" "More than you know."

Tsunade sits on the far side of the arena, wearing the Hokage robe. Shizune stands on her right with Hiruko on her left. Shizune keeps calm as she watches, but Hiruko looks as cocky as ever through his shades. "I know Naruto was the one who found you, Lady Hokage, but even you must know his reputation. I mean, we can't even feel his chakra. He is an academy reject; he stands no chance against Neji," said Hiruko. Tsunade speaks up in a quiet voice. "If that's true, then why hasn't Neji hit him yet?" "Neji is toying with him! He wants to trick Naruto into thinking he can win!" "And has Neji done anything like that before, Hiruko," asked Tsunade in a matter of fact voice. Hiruko now looks stumped by the question. "Keep watching the fight, Hiruko. Even rejects have their moment in the spotlight."

Naruto pushes Neji into the nearest wall, cracking it a little. Neji limps forward, his head down and his long black hair hanging in front of him. "No more games," said Neji. Neji now makes a hand sign, focusing his chakra as much as he can. "Alright Naruto, round 2." Neji moves with unbelievable speed, shouting out his ultimate move. "EIGHT TRIGRAMS SIXTY FOUR PALMS!" Neji makes two strikes as a blur. "TWO PALMS!" Then he makes four strikes. "FOUR PALMS!" Then eight strikes. "EIGHT PALMS!" Now Neji is moving too fast to keep up. "SIXTEEN PALMS, THIRTY TWO PALMS, SIXTY FOUR PALMS!" After finishing his attack, the dust quickly settles and Naruto is completely unphased by the attack. Neji is at a loss for words. "What?" The audience gasp at Naruto's incredible resilience. Shikamaru and Tsunade are not surprised, and Sakura seems content. Neji is defiant and finally uses his bloodline technique. "BYAKUGAN!" Neji examines Naruto's chakra flow, but sees something out of the ordinary.

"What is this," thought Neji. "I can see his Chakra Pathway System, but I can't see an end to it, and..." Neji now begins to see a bright yellow light, completely overtaking Naruto's cells. Neji seems... enchanted. "That's sunlight, but how? According to the Byakugan, he is absorbing massive amounts of yellow sun radiation. He's... powered by the sun?!" Neji slowly drops his hands, thinking about what his uncle said. "_Fight Naruto tomorrow, Neji. It should be a humbling experience for you."_ "You knew. Uncle Hiashi, you knew." Neji falls to his knees, afraid. "Even with my best techniques, even with many more years of training, how can I possibly beat that?" Neji places his hands on the ground, averting his eyes. "I can't beat you, Naruto. You win."

* * *

Naruto sits down at Ichiraku Ramen later, waiting for his order. Ino approaches and sits down on Naruto's left, speaking to the cook. "I'll have what he's having," said Ino. Naruto sits there, unmoved by her presence. "Never thought you would want to be seen with me, Ino." "Things change. Besides, right after your fight with Neji, I read your mind." Naruto seems calm. "What did you see, Ino?" "I saw... pain. Rejection. Sadness. I also saw that Hanabi told you about your powers months ago." "Is that all?" "No. Despite the way everyone treated you, you never hated them, even though they might have deserved it... kind of like me." Naruto looks at Ino now. "Ino, it is pointless to hate someone over trivial things. I care about one thing, Ino; to help anyone and everyone I can." "I see that now, Naruto, but there is something else I saw, something that you're not aware of." Naruto looks a little shocked. "What do you mean?" "Something deep in your memory, something that you have forgotten. Naruto... you are not of this world."

**Next Chapter: Three years ago, the boy from the stars learned of his origin and on that day, the boy became a god.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Origin**

_Three Years Ago...  
_

Naruto sits on his bed, staring at Kushina who is nervously pacing the floor by him. "Is this true, mom? Am I adopted? Did you find me?" Naruto asked with fear in his voice as Ino and Jiraiya sit across from him. Kushina speaks up, depressed and uncertain. "Well, you were adopted when I found you, but you are of my blood." "How is that even possible?! So I'm your kid, but I'm not your kid?!" "The ship that brought you here..." Naruto interrupts Kushina. "A ship?! What ship, mom?!" "As I was saying, the ship that brought you here had somehow copied my cells and Minato's and placed them inside of you. I know it's confusing, Naruto, but that's what happened." Naruto looks over at Jiraiya. "And you knew about this, Jiraiya?" "Your mom told me about the ship, but as for where it came from... well, even she doesn't know." Ino looks at Jiraiya briefly before turning her gaze to Naruto. "But I think I do. I saw it in Naruto's memories, but he was too young to remember it all." Ino stands up and walks over to Naruto before sitting beside him on the bed to his right. "Naruto, if you'll let me, I can unlock your earliest memories and find out where you are from." Naruto nods and Ino places her hands on both sides of his head. "Now hold still." Ino and Naruto both close their eyes.

Naruto finds himself standing inside of a crystal fortress. Ino stands directly in front of him, looking around. "This isn't right," said Ino. "It is, Ino Yamanaka," said a voice. Naruto looks around suspiciously. "Who's there? Show yourself!" A figure appears before them. He wears a gray robe with a black spandex with a silver S on his chest. The man has long black hair and a beard with blue eyes and tan skin. Naruto and Ino slowly approach the tall man. "Hello, Kal-El. I am your father, Jor-El." Naruto looks a little shaken, but then points to himself, smiling. "Kal-El. That's my name?" Jor-El nods. Naruto drops his hand and his smile, looking lost as he speaks to the man claiming to be his father. "I have so many questions. Where am I from?" Jor-El looks at Ino. "Ino's telepathy has finally allowed you to tap into your memories and has made contact with your ship." Jor now looks at Naruto. "You are from a planet called Krypton. What you see around you is a Sunstone Fortress. Sunstone was the primary resource on Krypton, a crystal that could self-replicate and absorb an infinite amount of solar energy. Our world was primarily peaceful, but our military commander, General Zod, disrupted that peace temporarily. Zod and his insurgents were sent to the Phantom Zone, a dimensional limbo where they could harm no one else."

"Tell us why you sent Naruto to our world, Jor-El. If Krypton was so peaceful, then why did you cast out your son," asked a slightly angry Ino. Jor now speaks with a heavy heart. "Our world was attacked by Brainiac, the collector of worlds. Brainiac had launched a detonator into Krypton's sun. Using the only ship in my lab, I sent Kal away from our world. I also made sure that the world he traveled to had a yellow star. On Krypton, we had a red sun, making us powerless. I wanted Kal to become strong enough so that in time, he would have the power to face Brainiac and avenge Krypton." Naruto steps closer to Jor. "You're dead, aren't you," asked Naruto. "I'm talking to your ghost." "You are talking to my memory, Kal, projected into your mind from your ship. Thanks to Ino, you can now make telepathic contact with your ship, but you must master your abilities quickly, Kal, because Brainiac is on his way here." Jor-El's image disappears, but Naruto and Ino still hear him. "I have given you what you need for now. Good luck."

Naruto and Ino wake up. Naruto stands up and speeds outside, seeing a ship flying down from the sky. Kushina and the others meet him outside as the ship now hovers in front of Naruto. "Kal-El, hop inside of me. I will take you to the sun." Naruto looks at Kushina, who gives him a nod of approval. The lid of the ship digitally disappears and Naruto hops inside the cockpit. The lid reappears and the ship takes off into orbit.

* * *

The ship leaves the ninja world and is now in space. A portal opens in front of the ship. "What is that," asked Naruto. "That is a portal to the Phantom Zone, Kal. We will use that to reach the sun in seconds." "So why not do it sooner?" "Because the radiation from the portal would have poisoned your village. I am working on a solution." "Playing it safe. Got it." The ship passes through the portal and reaches the orbit of the sun. The ship hovers there. "How do you feel, Kal?" "I feel stronger. What's happening?" "The closer you are to a yellow star, the more power you will gain. I brought you here so that you would be strong enough to face Brainiac. We will hover here for a few minutes, Kal, then return to your world to see how strong you have become."

Later, Naruto slowly walks on an empty plain, looking up at the sun. He recalls what the ship told him. _"Every star in the universe will give you different properties, Kal, based upon how hot or cool they are. White stars, dwarf stars, yellow suns and blue giants will give you different properties. Pulsars and quasars will give you power beyond imagining. However, the light of a red star, both real and artificial, will take that away. Brainiac is the first of many challenges that will come your way, Kal. In time, you will be a beacon of hope for the ninja world. The S you saw on Jor-El's chest? That is what your family crest means, Kal: hope." "So I wasn't making it up, then?" "No. Now you must test your strength, Kal, because until now, you have never done that."_

Naruto creates nine Shadow Clones. Immediately afterwards, they start leaping. The ten Narutos find themselves leaping 1/8 of a mile before landing. Crouching down, they now leap eight miles, then suddenly, something happens. Naruto and his clones begin to float briefly before falling back to the ground. They land on their feet, then try again. This time, they leap higher, now miles above ground. Naruto and his clones break the sound barrier as they go higher. Naruto feels a great sensation as it feels like he is leaving his limits behind him. Unfortunately, Naruto and his clones come to a stop. They begin to fall from miles up and Naruto looks down, uncertain if the fall will kill him. Naruto looks right, then he looks left. He sees that his clones are as uncertain as him. As he gets closer to the ground, he calls them off. He closes his eyes and focuses his senses. "I've trained myself to be a ninja. I've trained to focus my senses. Now is no different," thought Naruto. Naruto's body finally slows down, stopping just short of hundreds of yards above ground.

Naruto opens his eyes. He looks down, seeing something magnificent. "I can fly. I sensed it through the clones, but now..." Naruto smiles. "I can fly." With a thought, Naruto flies over the plain where he started. His shadow moves underneath him as he flies above the ground. Naruto now finds himself in the forest, seeing the trees moving past his sight. He flies up, the forest under him now as he laughs happily. Becoming an orange blur, he generates a sonic boom, flying at 800 mph. The trees under him are blown back by the boom. Naruto lifts himself higher with his right arm in front of him with his fist stretched out. With a sudden turn, he flies up into the stratosphere, slowing down briefly before taking off again at high-speed. Naruto goes into orbit, flying around the ninja world and heading back down to the Hidden Leaf Village.

Kushina walks outside, staring up at the sun, wondering when Naruto will come back. She worries that what he saw might have shaken him. "Mom," shouts Naruto. Naruto floats down slowly in front of Kushina. She is completely overtaken by shock before fainting. Naruto catches her and she looks up at him as he holds her in his arms. "Naruto, you were flying." Naruto smiles. He floats up with Kushina in his arms. "Come with me, mom. See the world with me." Naruto takes off with Kushina, flying high into the air. Kushina looks down, wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck to hold on. "I'm flying slow so that I don't harm you." Kushina looks into Naruto's eyes, seeing that he is happier than he's ever been. Kushina smiles, wanting only to see Naruto happy. "Mom, I know where I'm from. I also know what I need to do." Naruto drops his smile, looking calm. "I want to protect this world. I want to protect you, and I want to stop Brainiac from hurting anyone else." Kushina keeps her smile and kisses Naruto on the forehead. "I'm with you, Naruto. I always will be."

Meanwhile, in space, a giant ship in the shape of a bluish-black skull with glowing, blue diodes and tentacles floats through the vast, black void with countless stars in the distance behind it. Inside of this ship, the pilot sits inside of a black, metallic cocoon with his head popping out. He has green skin and reddish-pink diodes on his skull. The pilot of the skull ship makes a cold smile. "I have found you, Kryptonian."

**Next Chapter: He is the collector of worlds. He is a monstrous killer, murdering countless lives without remorse. Naruto must find him before he reaches the ninja world. Brainiac, part 1.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Brainiac, Part 1**

_Three Years Ago..._

Orochimaru meditates in his lab, his eyes closed and his head slumped a little. Kabuto stands in front of him with Sasuke standing on Kabuto's left. Sasuke sounds a little annoyed. "I thought you were going to train me, Orochimaru, but you've just been sitting there this whole time." "Patience, Sasuke. My snakes are spying." Sasuke just grunts. "So what are you spying for," asked Kabuto. "Not what, Kabuto, but who. My snakes have told me something impressive. Naruto is an alien from the stars, a fallen god living among us lowly humans." Orochimaru smirks as he opens his eyes. "They have heard him speaking to his mother. His body draws sustenance from the sun. If I could have his blood..." Kabuto looks at Sasuke. "So why did you defect from the village, Sasuke? I thought Naruto was your ally." Sasuke's eyes look down in slight anger and heartache. "He was more than that. After we were put on Kakashi's squad, Naruto was optimistic. He was always trying to get me to open up, wanting to understand me. In time... we became friends." "You still didn't answer my question." Sasuke turns his head right to speak directly to Kabuto. His face burns with seething anger.

"Naruto betrayed me. He lied to me, making me think that he was weak, but I saw the signs. Every time we went on a mission, he was never tired, hungry, or sweaty. While the rest of us sometimes came back with bruises, Naruto never had a scratch on him." Sasuke turns his head forward again to look into Orochimaru's eyes. "I came here so you could help me find a way to kill Naruto." "Well, you'll have to put that on hold," said a voice from outside. With one push, Naruto knocks down the reinforced doors to Orochimaru's lab. Naruto floats inside, turning his gaze to Orochimaru. "Oh no, please. Come in," said Orochimaru sarcastically. "I'm only going to say this once. You three are being drafted," said a serious Naruto. "Under whose authority," asked Orochimaru. "By the order of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju, you three are being drafted for war." Sasuke's eyes widen from surprise and a little confusion. He steps over to Naruto. "Wait, hold up! What do you mean by war, Naruto? Who are we fighting?"

Later, Naruto has flown Team Orochimaru back to the Hidden Leaf Village. The three Sand Siblings stand outside at the inner gates of Konoha. Also standing there are Team Kakashi, Team Guy, and Team Asuma. Naruto addresses them all as Tsunade and Jiraiya stand behind him. "Alright everyone, this is what's going to happen. Right now, an alien force called Brainiac is on his way here to the shinobi world. I am not exaggerating when I say that the entire ninja world is in danger. For those of you I haven't told yet, Brainiac is the collector of worlds. He goes to planets that are advanced in their progress, then he takes a piece of their culture and incinerates everything else." "Um, Naruto, how do you know all of this," asked Might Guy. Naruto keeps a calm expression. "For those of you that know me, I grew up in the Hidden Leaf Village, but what you don't know is that like Brainiac, I'm not of this world." Except for a few, everyone else is in awe by the revelation. Naruto speaks up again.

"Brainiac is on his way here because he is following the vapor trail left by my ship. I am the last survivor of a planet called Krypton. I am going to go into space and head him off, finding him before he finds us. There is still a chance that Brainiac could make it here, so everyone be on their guard." Naruto begins to walk away as Jiraiya and Tsunade keep their gaze on him. Ino catches up and grabs his shoulder. "Was that a good idea just now, Naruto, telling them that you're an alien," asked Ino. Naruto turns to face her. "They were going to find out anyway, Ino. Besides, we have something more important to worry about." "And you're going after Brainiac right now?" Naruto places his hands on Ino's shoulders. "I could use your help."

* * *

Inside of Naruto's mind, Naruto and Ino once again stand inside the Kryptonian fortress. Naruto pulls up a digital screen to scan the stars. Ino looks around at the technological marvel. "I still can't believe that Jor-El was able to create this place inside of your mind like this, Naruto. Technology on a scale like this, being able to place it in a person's mind...," "I know, I'm still getting the hang of it myself, but I'm a quick study." Naruto touches a spot on the star map after detecting a hostile presence. He enhances the picture, seeing a bluish-black skull ship. "Bingo." Naruto and Ino wake up, finding themselves at Naruto's house. Naruto stands up from the bed and zooms outside, summoning his ship. The ship hovers in front of him as he floats inside. Sakura runs over, shouting out to him. "Naruto, wait! You don't have to do this alone!" Naruto looks right, smiling at Sakura. "I won't be." The ship lifts up and takes off into orbit.

Naruto's ship leaves the ninja world and opens a Phantom Zone portal. Entering the portal, Naruto sees a crystal-gray vortex of a dimension passing him by. Naruto begins to see phantoms flying by the ship. "Tell me more about the Phantom Zone, ship." "It is a prison dimension that exists outside of the normal universe. Krypton's council used it to imprison some of the worst criminals in the known galaxies, such as Xa-Du, a Kryptonian scientist who became obsessed with immortality. He murdered several people on Krypton with his monstrous experiments, becoming the very first prisoner of the Phantom Zone." Naruto sees the portal open at the end of the tunnel. "So are we sending Brainiac here, ship?" "Brainiac is a being without a physical form. Even if you kill him, he will simply make a new body for himself inside of his ship." "So where is he from?" "Brainiac was a scientist from a technological planet called Colu. Brainiac's real name is Vril Dox, a scientist who went rogue by expanding his own knowledge and murdering others to get it. Vaporized for his crimes, Vril's mind had survived his physical death. His mind had become so powerful that he created a technological construct to house it and allow him to interact with the physical universe once more."

"I can guess what happened next. He wanted more knowledge, so he started attacking planets and taking a piece of their culture with him to gain their knowledge. Wanting to gain more knowledge is understandable, but murdering civilizations to get it is taking it too far." The ship leaves the Phantom Zone, ending up in deep space. Naruto now sees the skull ship from before. "There it is." Naruto's ship approaches Brainiac's ship, flying into the left side of its head via Phantom Zone. The ship lands in a wide, pale blue hangar. Naruto floats out of the ship, levitating into the hangar. "Greetings, Kal-El. I have been expecting you," said a voice throughout the ship. The voice sounds monotone, yet masculine. "Brainiac? Where are you?" "I am in the control room of the ship. Meet me there." Naruto levitates out of the hangar and lands in one of the corridors. He begins to walk into a hallway filled with gold, digital screens. Floating out of the ceiling, two Brainiac androids appear and engage Naruto in battle. One of them pins him down while the other blasts him with eye beams. Naruto shoves the android off of him and tears its arm off before smashing it with one punch. The second android leaps at him, but Naruto freezes it with ice breath. With one stomp, he smashes it into pieces.

"Some welcoming committee," said Naruto. "Impressive. So you are stronger than I imagined," said Brainiac. "You mean you saw me?" "Of course. Everything that happens in my ship, I am aware of." "So you're seeing me through a monitor, Brainiac?" "No. I can see you through the ship itself. I am this ship, Kal-El and this ship is me." "So you have a symbiotic relationship with this ship?" Brainiac chuckles. "The ship is the symbiote and I its host. Continue your tour through my ship, Kal-El. We will meet soon enough."

Naruto now finds himself in a chamber filled with pods. Inside one of the pods, he sees a naked blonde girl and on the outside it says "Kara Zor-El." "El," said Naruto in a soft, questioning tone. "She is your cousin, Kal, daughter of Zor-El, who is the brother of Jor-El, your father." Naruto tightens his fist. "Let her go, Brainiac." "Kara tried to escape Krypton's demise, but her ship was lost in space and she fell into stasis. The pod that I placed her in is keeping her in stasis so that she does not escape." Naruto raises his voice in fury. "You think she wants to be kept like this, or any of the cities you stole?! You robbed these people of their lives!"

Naruto is suddenly teleported into the main room of the ship. Standing in front of him is a green humanoid inside of a black, metallic cocoon. The wires in his skull are disconnected and the cocoon opens. Naruto looks in fear as Brainiac towers over him at 6'7, wearing a black and white spandex with the white on the chest and back, along with the insides of the legs. His forearms are exposed, showing a being with a Herculean body type. "At last, Kryptonian...," Brainiac grabs Naruto with one hand, surprising him with his strength. "You belong to me, now." Naruto glares at Brainiac. "I am not your property." "I know why you are here, Kal-El, or should I call you Naruto?" Naruto looks surprised. "I know about your adopted world. I downloaded your memories when you entered my ship." "No," said a horrified Naruto. "The ninja of your adopted world has rather impressive abilities, so I would like to see them for myself." Naruto uses heat vision, then punches Brainiac off of him. "I won't let you destroy another world!" Naruto is in front of Brainiac with blinding speed, but Brainiac catches his fist and plants his own into Naruto's chest. Naruto skids as he catches himself.

"You have been sharing your knowledge of Krypton with the ninja. Krypton's knowledge is mine and mine alone. You will join my collection, Kal and be immortal." "Immortal?!" Naruto blitzes Brainiac and begins hammering him into the floor with a barrage of punches at supersonic speed, creating a massive shockwave in the room. Naruto flies up and charges his palm. "RASENGAN!" His blast overtakes Brainiac and he lands, waiting for the smoke to clear. "You disappoint me, Kal-El." Brainiac steps out of the smoke when wires begin to grab Naruto, forming a metallic cocoon around him. "I expected a Kryptonian with warrior training, but all I get is a brat with no knowledge of his own abilities. You may think yourself a savior, Kal, but you can't save yourself right now. You will join my collection, but first I want you to see something."

Naruto looks out of the window, seeing the giant blue orb in front of him. "No," said a horrified Naruto. "We have arrived at the shinobi world. The Hidden Leaf Village is the pinnacle of your ninja world. Onoki uses violence and fear; the Raikage is full of pride; Gaara is a sociopath trying to redeem himself, and Mei Terumi is a self-infatuated woman trying to deal with the Mist Village's savage treatment of its youths and betrayal of its secrets to its enemies. While the other four villages are either disillusioned, totalitarian or outright savage, the Leaf Village is more democratic. Its people get to decide who their next leader will be if he or she has the proper background and can gain the trust of the people." Brainiac walks over to the captured Naruto, then bends over with a cold smile on his face.

"You have an interesting family tree on both worlds, half-breed." Naruto looks at him with confusion. "You don't know, do you? You are Kal-El of Krypton, but you are also Naruto Uzumaki of this world. You know this already, but what you don't know is that Kushina Uzumaki was pregnant with the real Naruto before your arrival." Naruto's eyes widen and waver, unable to process what Brainiac just said. "My robots have already teleported down to thin the population in the Leaf Village, then I will begin the assimilation." Naruto begins to laugh, lowering his head. Brainiac becomes emotionless again. "What is so funny?" "You really think they're defenseless, don't you? Well, I've got news for you, Brainiac; they're not as defenseless as you think." Naruto looks up at Brainiac with a cocky smile. "If you really expect them to cower in fear of your robots, then you don't know them very well." "Their precious ninjutsu skills cannot penetrate the force fields on my robots." "Wrong again, Brainiac! As I said, you don't know them very well."

* * *

Neji and Lee stand side by side as they punch and kick their way through the robots. Many more attack the villagers, but the ninja seem to be easily destroying the robots. Kakashi lands from a rooftop, slowly looking up from his crouched position. Charging up his right hand with lightning, he creates a shockwave as he dashes by a swarm of robots at supersonic speed. "CHIDORI," shouts Kakashi. A golden glow comes from Kakashi's forehead in the shape of a small jewel. Kakashi then taps it with his right index finger. "Guess this thing came in handy."

Guy seems to be doing a flying karate kick through a crowd of Brainiac robots, smashing some and sending others airborne. Guy lands and pumps his left fist in the air as a golden glow comes from his forehead. "Thank you, magic crystal!"

Back on Brainiac's ship, Brainiac's expression shows that he is slightly annoyed. "Battle not going like you expected," said Naruto. "I take it that your robots are getting smashed up." Brainiac flies over to Naruto quickly and grabs his skull. "What did you do," asked an annoyed Brainiac. "The only thing I could. You see, just because I'm in space doesn't mean I lost contact with the Leaf Village. You're not the only person who can read minds, Brainiac." Suddenly, Ino's voice speaks through the ship. "The crystals are working, Naruto. The ninja of the village all have your powers." Naruto nods. "Thanks, Ino. By the way, Brainiac, there is something you should know about ninja." Naruto squints his eyes in anger. "We are masters of deception."

With incredible ease, Naruto breaks free of the cocoon. As if in slow motion, Brainiac's eyes spring wide open as he is overcome by shock. "The reason why my Rasengan didn't vaporize you earlier is because I was holding back, not just because I was being merciful, but because I wanted to see your abilities. I'll give it to you straight, Brainiac; I'm not impressed." Brainiac seems annoyed again. "Simpleton. You are beneath me." "And there it is, Brainiac: pride. It was pride that made you destroy those worlds, just as it was pride that allowed you to fall victim to our trap. All this knowledge and you are so horribly predictable. You thought you could just come here and take what you wanted without consequence? You call yourself a collector of knowledge, but what good is knowledge if you don't use it?" Naruto holds out his right hand, pointing his finger at the bottled cities.

"When you had me hooked up just now, I could hear them, Brainiac. I could hear those people crying out for vengeance. You murdered their families and friends. You destroyed what little freedom they had left. I'll bet you tried to rationalize it, saying that you were making them immortal. For a guy who is supposed to be so smart, YOU ARE GALACTICALLY STUPID! Bottled cities from thriving worlds, then destroying them so that you can keep them to yourself?! What was the plan, Brainiac?!"

"I don't expect you to understand my methods, human. Knowledge becomes more precious when fewer people possess it." "THAT MAKES NO GODDAMN SENSE! You are so obsessed with gaining knowledge that this ship has become your bottle!" Naruto then has an epiphany. "You've never this ship, have you?" "And why should I, Naruto? The universe is filthy. I intend to cleanse it by becoming perfect." Naruto calms down a little. "You don't know what perfection is, Brainiac. In fact, why would you even want it? Once you become perfect, what else can you do?" Brainiac tries to punch Naruto, but he easily blocks it. "Perfection means that I will have all knowledge." "And what are you going to do with that knowledge, Brainiac?" "I will preserve it in me." Naruto becomes angry again. "That is exactly my point." Naruto uppercuts Brainiac into the ceiling, then jabs his fingers into Brainiac's skull as he flies across the ceiling with Brainiac's body. Brainiac throws some punches, but Naruto dodges and blitzes Brainiac to the floor before slamming into him feet first, creating an earth shattering shockwave. Naruto floats above him, waiting for Brainiac to get his bearings. "Something else I noticed; you've never been in a fight before, have you? Since you never left this ship, there was no need for you to train. Your attacks just now were haymakers. I'm a ninja, so I see right through those. You claim you want perfection, but once you get it, Brainiac, you'll regret it because being perfect means you can't learn anything new. Once you learn that nothing challenges you, you will fall into despair! How can you claim to be a collector of knowledge and NOT figure that out?!"

Brainiac squints his eyes, seeming to be deep in heavy thought. Naruto's words seem to be drilling into his mind. Is he right? Has his search for ultimate knowledge been a waste of time? Naruto slowly floats down to the floor, standing in front of Brainiac. "You have done many terrible things, Brainiac, but you can still redeem yourself. You can find worlds to restore these cities on. You can give these people their lives back. For once in your life, Vril, do something selfless."

Naruto holds out his hand, waiting for Brainiac's response. Brainiac now slowly staggers to his feet, looking down on Naruto with seething hatred. Naruto looks up at him with curiousity, wondering how he can have such an absolute negative expression on his emerald face. "It was all for nothing. I was right... this universe is filthy." "What are you...," Naruto is cut off when he hears something fire off from Brainiac's ship. Using his vision, Naruto sees outside, noticing something flying toward the direction of the sun. Brainiac tackles Naruto to the floor with amazing speed, holding his face down. "In one hour, that detonator will reach the star of your world. Once inside the star, it will flare up and your star will go supernova." In a rage, Naruto unleashes heat vision on Brainiac and punches him back. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" "You were right, Kal, perfection is a dead end. I would only let that knowledge idly sit for all eternity, doing nothing with it. This universe is meaningless, so I will cleanse it, starting with your adopted world. I will move on to other worlds, then galaxies. The entire universe will be incinerated. I am the end of all things!"

Naruto and Brainiac fly at each other as they restart their battle. Meanwhile on the shinobi world, Kakashi sees an object flying across the skies of the shinobi world. Kakashi then hears a voice. "_Kakashi sensei_," said Naruto telepathically. "_Naruto, what was that thing I just saw?" "It's a solar detonator. Brainiac is trying to blow up the sun. Do you still have my Sunstone?" "Yes." "I need someone to stop that thing from reaching the sun. I have my hands full with Brainiac right now. Can you do it?" "I'll try."_

Kakashi takes off into orbit, creating a massive sonic boom.

**Next Chapter: Naruto has failed. Brainiac has made it to the shinobi world, but not all is lost. Naruto must find a way to stop Brainiac from endangering everyone he cares about. Brainiac, conclusion.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Brainiac, Part 2**

_Three Years Ago…_

Kakashi has left orbit, feeling the warm light of the sun on his face. This is the first time that he has seen space, its serene quiet and dark emptiness. With the sunstone on his forehead, he can finally feel the full radiance of the sun. He feels what Naruto feels all the time... empowered. Kakashi can feel his new senses amplifying, seeing the rod-like machine headed toward the sun. Without hesitation, the Copy Ninja flies at faster than light speed now that he is not held down by gravity.

Kakashi is now tailing the solar detonator as it makes its way to the sun. "That thing is fast." Kakashi then starts to catch up with the machine until making his way to its midsection. Kakashi grabs it and throws it away from the sun before firing off a Chidori, destroying it. "Alright, Naruto. I leave the rest to you."

Brainiac slams his fists down on Naruto in a hammer slam, but Naruto blocks and kicks Brainiac across the ship. Brainiac catches himself and with a stare, seems to force Naruto to the floor on his stomach. "How are you doing that?" "Telekinesis, Kal-El. I made the mistake of lowering myself to your level, but I will no longer dirty my hands with you." Brainiac lifts Naruto telekinetically and starts to crush him. Naruto begins to grunt in pain. "Your squad leader stopped my device, so now I have to charge my ship's cannon. I will blast your adopted world out of the sky." A voice begins to speak inside of Naruto's mind. _"Free." _With his mind, Brainiac snaps Naruto's neck as everything goes black.

Naruto wakes up, seeing a white void. "Where am I?" Naruto then sees a cage in front of him. Inside of this cage, he sees the giant form of Kurama, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. "Naruto, you need me. Kryptonian powers are not enough this time. You need more than brute strength to defeat Brainiac." Naruto looks serious now. "And you want me to release you? You're more dangerous than Brainiac, especially with my powers!" "You heard what Brainiac said, Naruto. He is going to destroy the shinobi world if you don't do something. He is charging his cannon as we speak." Naruto averts his eyes, recalling what he learned about Brainiac. "If Brainiac is attached to his ship, then we need to separate him from it. However, Brainiac's telekinesis is a problem." "Leave that to me, Naruto. With my chakra and your power, there is no limit to what we can do." Naruto looks up at Kurama, curious. "Can I trust you?" Kurama nods.

Naruto slowly stands up as an orange aura surrounds his body. His neck has popped back in place as he stands up straight, his body now completely covered in an orange chakra, almost as if he is made of it. Brainiac looks back in horror at the revived Naruto. "I killed you. How is this possible?" Brainiac uses telekinesis, but this time Naruto shrugs it off. In an instant, Naruto slams Brainiac against the side of his ship before flying through the wall and to the planet below. In less than a minute, the two slam into the ground below, creating a massive shockwave. Naruto stands up, staring down Brainiac who is seemingly panicking from the dust covering him.

"What… what is this?! Get it off! GET IT OFF!" Naruto powers down to his base form, glaring at Brainiac with cold anger. "You can't handle what you can't control, can you, Brainiac?" Naruto does a left jab on Brainiac, planting him into the ground. "Welcome to life, Brainiac."

Later, Naruto has a Phantom Zone portal opened in the Leaf Village. The ship has finally fixed the radiation problem, keeping the villagers safe. Naruto throws Brainiac's unconscious form into the Phantom Zone, forever separating him from his ship. The portal closes and Naruto looks around the village, seeing the piles of Brainiac robots. Naruto now feels a sense of defeat, because even though Brainiac has been defeated, he came here looking for him.

Naruto now sits on his bed with Kushina right next to him. Kakashi enters, giving them the news. "Elder Danzo spoke with the council. He and the rest of the council agrees that Naruto's powers need to be controlled. When you brought Brainiac to the surface of our world, you rocked the planet to its core. Even though it was brief, it was still dangerous. Until you can better control your powers, they need to be put on lock and key." Kushina rises from the bed, her eyes widened from intense fear. "What are you saying, Kakashi?" Kakashi squints a little in concern. "I'm sorry, Kushina. Naruto has to be kept in a special facility until he can control his powers." "That's insane! He just saved us all! The council should be giving him a medal, not treating him like a criminal!" Kushina looks back at her son. "Naruto, you can't agree with this!" Naruto stands up, looking down in sadness. Kushina questions him with concern. "Naruto?"

Naruto steps inside of a chamber with the walls and ceiling filled with circular red sun lamps. On the left side of the chamber is a bed and on the right are a set of weights and a practice dummy. Tsunade stands beside him in order to explain his new living conditions. "This chamber is only one part of the underground facility set up by Danzo and our research team. This is your living quarters, and down the hall a few yards is the dining area. As for missions, we'll start you off with A rank. Your mission to the Land of Waves months ago proves that B rank is too easy for you. When you complete your missions, you will be allowed a few minutes above ground to contact me, informing me that your mission is complete. Once that is done, you will return here and await further instructions." Tsunade steps over and places her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We'll work through this, Naruto." Tsunade leaves as Kushina walks in, tears coming from her eyes. "I am so sorry, Naruto. I never wanted this, to have your freedom so casually taken from you." Naruto comforts her. "It's okay, mom. I need to ask you something." "What is it?"

Naruto and Kushina sit down on the bed as Naruto folds his hands. His eyes show uncertainty with a hint of resolve. "Mom, were you pregnant when my ship came to this world?" Kushina looks down, speaking softly. "Yes, Naruto." "What happened to it?" Kushina grabs Naruto's right hand. "When the ship scanned me, it somehow removed you from my womb and into my hands. I think you fused with baby Kal-El. That's what I meant before when I said that you were indeed my son, but also not my son." Naruto leans his head onto Kushina's shoulder, smiling as he feels her warmth. "Thank you, mom." "For what?" "For everything. Thank you."

* * *

_Present day_

Naruto floats down with his jacket and shirt torn off halfway, exposing his six pack abs. He has two Krypton soldiers in their black and grey armor under his arms. The Phantom Zone portal opens and Naruto tosses them in, sending them back to their imprisonment. Naruto then tears off his jacket and shirt, leaving his upper body fully exposed. Naruto now grunts in disappointment. "They saw me coming a mile away. My orange jumpsuit is exposing me too much. I need something else."

Naruto returns to the Hokage's office. He sees Sakura standing in front of Tsunade's desk with her left arm in a sling. Naruto has put on a black ninja outfit to replace the orange jumpsuit, but he becomes worried at the sight of Sakura's injury. "What happened," asked Naruto. Sakura looks blank. "I fought a Kryptonian soldier. I was able to blast him with red sunlight just in time before he broke both of my arms." Naruto looks depressed. "I should have been there." Sakura looks at Naruto. "This isn't your fault, Naruto. You can't be everywhere and I don't expect you to." Tsunade folds her hands on the desk, addressing the two younger ninja.

"Okay, we seem to be making a dent in Zod's forces. Ever since his arrival, his focus was to capture you, Naruto, but we told him no. Apparently, Zod doesn't take no for an answer, hence our current predicament. In the past month, we have been at war with Zod, trying to keep Naruto away from him, but his tactics are becoming more aggressive. For this reason, I am increasing security for Naruto's facility. Once I heal Sakura, she will be among the first of rotating security to look after you, Naruto, along with Sasuke. The next shift will go to Shikamaru and Choji, then Ino and Tenten, and finally Neji and Lee." Tsunade now sits back in her chair. "Sakura, you stay. Naruto, you are dismissed. Head back to your chamber for further orders."

Naruto is training with a punching bag, wearing long red shorts. He thinks back to three years ago, when he took Kandor off of Brainiac's ship and placed it on the moon. Kandor regained normal size after it was removed from its bottle. Naruto then freed Kara from Brainiac's ship and he decided to train her. After a few months, she was ready to go back to Kandor on the moon. The lack of atmosphere on the moon caused the Kandorians to develop their powers much faster than Naruto did. However, two months ago, Zod and his soldiers were freed from the Phantom Zone by Kandor's council since they needed a military. However, Zod was too demanding with bringing Naruto back to Kandor and started a pointless war with the Hidden Leaf Village. Zod's soldiers have been sent back to the Phantom Zone, thinning his numbers. However, Faora and Non still remain and Zod has around five soldiers left. The Kandorians have banned Zod for his violent ways, but his ship remains in orbit.

Naruto stops punching the punching bag as he begins to unwrap his hands. He hears footsteps entering his red sun chamber, but doesn't use his chakra sense to detect who it is. "I guess granny Tsunade finally fixed you up, huh?" Naruto looks at the door, but his face is overcome by terror. He sees a woman with short black hair with blue eyes with the black and gray armor worn by the Krypton soldiers. The woman appears to be in her early thirties, is very athletic and very attractive, but has a cold aura around her as her black cape hangs behind her. "Faora," said a frightened Naruto.

"Kal-El. You are coming with me."

**Final Chapter: A double sized chapter. General Zod was the military leader on Krypton, but his violent ways were too much for its people. After killing council members, he was sentenced to the Phantom Zone with his wife, Faora Ul, and his soldiers. Naruto has managed to send some of Zod's soldiers back to the Phantom Zone and just as Naruto is about to be congratulated, Faora kidnaps him. Naruto has saved the shinobi world, but who will save him? End of volume 1.**


End file.
